All Topics older than one year ago

The monthly meeting of the London branch of the RPS Social Club is set to take place this Saturday at The Blue Posts, a convival spot suitable for games of card, board and dice, the meeting of good spirits, and the imbibing of good spirits (also beers, cider, soft drinks and tea). If you’d like to discuss your fashionably timed arrival with other members of the RPS community, this particular forum thread is the best place to discuss such things. I see that somebody is planning to take Cosmic Encounter along, which is a fine treat, but I would suggest that at least one person take a set of Tiddlywinks and a 14th Century Halatafl set. More Social Club news below.

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A few weeks back, I polled our user-run blog, Talk Amongst Yourselves, about what they thought the best anime of winter 2014 is. Hands down, the answer was the latest anime from the creators of Cowboy Bebop: Space Dandy. Unfortunately, it is an anime I am completely unable to enjoy. Read more...

Jeff and Brad discuss boat drinks, the merits of being a giant seal, and the fraudulent nature of Funky Kong.

It's unfair of Braid designer Jon Blow and his indie team Number None to show these The Witness screens now, not only because we have to wait until "mid-2014" to play the game, but because they look much warmer than the bitterly cold winter that surrounds us. Brrr.

The area in these screens of the PS4, PC, and iOS exploratory puzzler is apparently "the marsh," and if the marsh in this game is that colorful and vivid, then surely the rest of this game is just an endless field of double rainbows. But what does this mean? [Images: Number None]

We've got 25 pairs of tickets to give away to a special screening of Need For Speed, introduced by stars Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper.

“Another helping of Enigma machine gibberish from Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s resident sim gimp.” The Coventry Herald

“As usual, Stone switches subjects with the gracefulness of a derailing freight train.” The Aldershot Bugle

“The last time I saw that many commas that close together, I was visiting the National Museum of Printing.” Caravanning Today

“After reading this week’s pieces on IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad and BOMB, the fatwā calls suddenly made a lot more sense.” Contemporary Crochetist … [visit site to read more]

After a delayed raid, squad-based first-person shooter Takedown: Red Sabre is out now on the Xbox Games Store, priced $15 in North America and £12/15 euros across the ocean.

The Kickstarted shooter from Washington-based indie Serellan was originally due to hit both Windows PC and Xbox 360 last year, but the developer had to delay the console version because it didn't pass certification requirements. That was fixed, but Serellan chose to hold the XBLA game back to add in post-launch improvements made to the PC version. The newly released XBLA version also features the free DLC that was added post-launch, and that includes a range of new maps as well as some additional weaponry to mow one another down with. [Image: 505 Games]

A Chinese company recently took the Guinness World Records for the world's thinnest latex condom. It comes in at 0.036 millimeters. Read more...

We explain why Dark Souls is a game that only really begins once you've finished it.

I emerged from Wasteland 2‘s beta with a fair number of irradiated gravel bits in my gamerly boot, but there’s no denying that it’s a solid foundation. (And hey, it’s a beta. If you go into a bug hunt expecting to not get dirty, then I can only advise that you re-calibrate your expectations.) Improvements, however, take time, and inXile’s been diligently ironing out Wasteland 2′s kinks ever since the beta started. So surely it’s almost done by now, right? Well, kinda. All that remains is the “final stretch,” which will last three months and change if all goes according to plan. There’s a new beta build en route too, for those still in the business of picking at the pie before its done cooling on the window sill (or another equally quaint metaphor of your choosing).

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Despite being only eight minutes per episode, Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time is possibly the funniest anime this season. One of the latest episodes, “Disaster Drill,” features the titular Seki-kun playing house with robot action figures that look suspiciously like Transformers. Read more...

In the second of a three-part series, we look at the concept art of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Today: the monsters.

Kingdom Come Deliverance is part of an elite group of games-to-be that've raised more than $1 million on Kickstarter. Warhorse's medieval European first-person RPG, creatively led by Mafia and Mafia 2 designer Dan Vávra, galloped to just over £1.1 million in funding this week. That converts to something like $1.84 million, and according to Kickstarter's own list it's the 26th most funded project on the site to date. Not to mention that's in addition to the $1.5 million in investment raised privately by Warhorse prior to the campaign, so that's one heck of a launchpad for the Czech developer to work from.

It brings an end to what's been a heady few days of announcements for Warhorse, who started the week by revealing Microsoft and Sony have given their approvals to Kingdom Come Deliverance. That means the game's CryEngine 3-powered open world is on the way to PS4 and Xbox One, as well as PC - Warhorse had already stated it wanted to bring the game to next-gen systems, but that was the first word of official confirmation.

That was followed by news of a partnership with another prolific fundraiser, namely Chris Roberts of Star Citizen. The move will see the Star Citizen team share some of its tech with Warhorse, and vice versa, and while it's hardly the first of its kind in the industry, it's still an alliance that should be interesting to watch unfold.

As for when the game will make good on its Deliverance, as it stands it's going to be a long wait. It's a Q4 2015 release window for Windows, Mac, and Linux, with no word yet on when to expect it on PS4 and Xbox One. In the meantime, backers and fans can make do with a livestream that showcases 57 minutes of a playable build. [Image: Warhorse Studios]

7Framed might sound like a name for the world’s most uncomfortable pair of glasses, but least it’s not called 7ramed. I will forever be thankful for that, as I have no idea how you rame something, let alone do it seven times. Silly name aside, there is a game here, and it actually looks rather impressive – well, from a “here is what is obviously a target render Kickstarter video” standpoint, anyway. Blending the first-person physicality of Mirror’s Edge and the multi-perspective murder mystery drama of some game I don’t know about that probably did those exact things, 7Framed has potential in spades. But of course, it wants your money. A lot of your money. To persuade you, developer VIE Games is offering an extremely attractive video, but not much else.

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As far as fireworks festivals go, they don't get much more dangerous than this.Read more...

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is out today, and to celebrate this, Masahiro Sakurai revealed the next member of Super Smash Bros. Wii U's roster: Diddy Kong.Read more...

The upcoming Super Smash Bros. title on Wii U and 3DS has just received its 24th brawler.

I promised myself I wouldn’t write about any more Flappy-Bird-alikes, but damn it, Delirious Bird is actually really good. I know, I know: I make myself sick too. In penance, I will hurl myself at the nearest 12-foot-tall cartoon pipe just as soon as I’m able. I guess that makes this my final act, assuming real cartoon pipes are the silent monoliths of imperceptible violence videogames have taught me they are. But anyway: Delirious Bird is basically Flappy Bird, except exposed to near-fatal dosages of psychedelic rainbow radiation. The end result? Total madness. And a really cool gameplay mechanic.

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They are! They don't forget things, break your heart, or act annoying. They also don't exist, but don't hold that against them.Read more...

Over the years living in Japan, I don't ever recall seeing anything like this at a console launch.Read more...

Batman: Arkham Origins‘ superheroic antics were supremely so-so (not to mention glitchy as all get-out), but it wasn’t the only game in its lineage. Comparing Arkham Origins to Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is like comparing apples to (Arkham) oranges. Blackgate is a sidescroller that originally debuted on handhelds, but it does manage to contain trace elements of previous Arkham standouts. There’s similar combat, light stealth, and detective vision, but it’s all wrapped up in a traditional Metroidvania-style package. It’s also – depending on whom you talk to – kinda alright? Sort of? I haven’t played it, but perhaps I will soon. Trailer of the PC-bound “Deluxe Edition” below.

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Strike Suit Zero, to use a perfect term, is my jam. Sci-fi? Check. Space Transformers? Check. Almost comical disregard for the sanctity of life and natural resources? Check. It’s bombastic, beautiful insanity that, to my eternal anger, proved rather unplayable on my aging hulk of a machine. Nathan proved measurably harder to impress a year ago, which may in part by why things have ended up here: a special edition of the game, initially for console release but eventually spreading out into our sector. It’s designed to fix many of the issues players and critics alike had with the campaign, as well as include DLC at no extra cost. Morph this post to its heavier form for a look at the trailer and details.

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- being called “Persona Stalker Club”
- this is a Persona-themed talk variety show
- starts February 28th through the Persona Channel
- first episode will feature voice actress Isomura Tomomi (Isocchi) and freelance writer Mafia Kajita
- information on upcoming games may be discussed

Have a spin on the latest title from the Heroes of Newerth developer.