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Look, I know exactly 42% of you think Going For A Walk games are destroying videogames, but this is one instance where a game would be a whole lot better if it stuck to observation over interaction. Insta-death jump-puzzles are not what a game about exploring a strange, apparently uninhabited new world tinged with tragedy and mystery really needs. Wonderful, sweeping scenery: yes. Vast, surprising architecture: yes. Clangy soundtrack of celestial doom: yes. Russian-language audiologs: yes. Eerie, lonely stomps across apparently infinite alien terrain: yes. Yes! A strange and unsettlingly space-place, free from guns and conventional monsters. Yes. Falling off a ledge again and again: no, why, no, no, no, please, no.

That I want to play more of Lifeless Planet, that I want to spend more time in it, even despite its jump’n'fail misery, says much about the place it has built. … [visit site to read more]

WHAT: Ubisoft releases today a co-op trailer for Child of Light™, releasing on April 30, 2014. The turn based RPG set in the magical world of Lemuria will be available for download for $14.99 on Microsoft Xbox LIVE for the Microsoft Xbox® 360 and Microsoft Xbox® One, the Sony PlayStation Network for the Sony PlayStation® 3 and Sony PlayStation® 4, the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U, and Steam for PC and is rated “Everyone 10+.”

To all those wandering lost in the dark, may you be visited by a spark. Reveal hidden passages, protect one another. Join forces to uncover Lemuria’s secrets, for the darkness is full of dangers.

Child of Light is created by a small team of seasoned developers based in Ubisoft Montreal. Child of Light has been developed on Ubisoft’s UbiArt Framework, a powerful engine that lets programmers and artists bring their art to life by allowing original concept art to be inserted unedited into the game world. In Child of Light, the effect is that playing becomes akin to stepping into an interactive painting.

Child of Light is a re-imagining of classic fairy tales, inviting players on an epic adventure into the magical painted world of Lemuria. Players will uncover mysteries, participate in turn-by-turn combat inspired by classic JRPGs, and explore a mystical kingdom. The game puts players in the shoes of Aurora, a child stolen from her home, who, in her quest to return, must bring back the sun, the moon and the stars held captive by the mysterious Queen of the Night. Helped by her companion Igniculus the firefly and several unlikely allies, Aurora will face her darkest fears, including dragons and other mystical creatures in this modern take on a coming-of-age story.

Step into Yoshi’s boots in a platform adventure that’ll see you exploring a lush island, gobbling up bad guys, tossing eggy ammunition and protecting Baby Mario! Yoshi’s New Island will be out on March 14th for Nintendo 3DS family systems – alongside a bright ‘n’ breezy special edition Nintendo 3DS XL – and right now you can check out our official Yoshi’s New Island website to find out all about the game!

As Yoshi, you’re on a mission to reunite Baby Mario with a kidnapped Baby Luigi, so you’ve gotta keep Baby Mario safe. Your journey will take you all over Egg Island, a place that’s packed with enemies and secrets, but don’t fret – Yoshi has the skills to save the day! Use motion controls to steer Yoshi’s transformations, smash new paths with Mega Eggdozers, and take your time finding tons of collectables. With a beautiful hand-drawn art style, fun, laidback gameplay and minigames you can play co-operatively with a friend, Yoshi’s New Island will keep you coming back for more!

Yoshi fans will also be excited to hear that there’s a Yoshi Special Edition Nintendo 3DS XL* available from March 14th! Show your love for the amiable green one with this gorgeous green and white Nintendo 3DS XL, featuring Yoshi with an egg on the front of the system and a whole trail of eggs that continues onto the back! This special system is also available in a Yoshi Special Edition Bundle from the Nintendo UK Online Store, which includes the Special Edition Yoshi Nintendo 3DS XL, a copy of Yoshi’s New Island and a Nintendo 3DS AC Adapter to boot.

Head to our official Yoshi’s New Island website now for a look at Egg Island, a rundown of Yoshi’s amazing abilities, a peek at power-ups, and more!

Yoshi’s New Island will be available from shops and as a downloadable version from Nintendo eShop on March 14th, only on Nintendo 3DS family systems.

The Council of Six

Top: Braev Lee; Left: Victoria F. Stein, Victor S. Court; Bottom: Alternis Dim

The decision-making body of the Duchy of Eternia. It believes that crystals are treasures to be used for the good of humanity, rather than objects to be worshipped. As a result, it is actively trying to bring about a widespread boycott of Crystalism.
Braev Lee is a resolute hero of the Eternian military who holds the Council of Six together. He is a strong supporter of the concept of Anticrystalism – and Edea Lee’s father.

Victor S. Court is a scholar who researches white magic. Despite his youth, his extraordinary talents have allowed him to become Eternia’s chief practitioner of healing. He is usually found following Victoria around and obeying her commands to the letter.

Victoria F. Stein is a young woman with a superior intellect and a magnificent command of magic. Despite her youthful appearance, her manner of speaking is more becoming of an elderly woman. Her unstable physical and emotional condition means she is in constant need of Victor’s healing abilities.

Alternis Dim is the Grand Marshal’s trusted friend and lieutenant. Despite being raised as an orphan without a single living relative, Alternis’s talents were soon spotted by the Grand Marshal, who invited him to join the Council of Six. He has never been seen without his black mask.

Take a look at Cloudtop Cruise, a new course in Mario Kart 8, coming to #WiiU on 30/5! #MK8 pic.twitter.com/0bZjU3DehI

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) March 5, 2014

For Baby Mario, #Yoshi will climb the highest mountain. pic.twitter.com/C2Cer8rElV

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) March 5, 2014

Having a stressful day? Why not head to the new website for #Yoshi's New Island and enjoy some ultra-soothing music: http://t.co/LrnFEg4Uz9

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) March 5, 2014

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Remember OnLive? The service aimed to provide streaming videogames to the world, but fell foul of confusing pricing, slow internet connections and the apparent mismanagement. The company never really shut down, avoiding bankruptcy by being bought and re-created under a new company with new management and the same name. That means it’s continued to quietly work away, providing the same service to its remaining subscribers while working on something new.

I went and saw that something new last Friday, and I’ve been messing around with its beta this week. I’ll have proper impressions later in the week, but the news: OnLive is still a subscription based streaming service for games, but it’s now pitching itself in part as a partner service to Steam. You can link your OnLive and Steam accounts, and if you own a game on Steam and that game is available through OnLive, you’ll have instant access to it within OnLive. That means you can play your Steam games while travelling without an install process or a powerful computer in your travel bag. … [visit site to read more]

We are very excited to announce the details of Killzone Shadow Fall’s first multiplayer expansion: The Insurgent Pack.

The expansion pack is full of exciting new features for multiplayer including a brand new Character Class, 3 new abilities, 3 new weapons and 2 new game modes.

The Helghast government has been secretly funding The Black Hand, the operatives of which have been infiltrating Vekta City. The VSA has also started a programme that sends saboteurs disguised as refugees to the Helghast side of the wall. These insurgents are playable for the first time in the brand new Insurgent Expansion, which includes:

• The Insurgent – a brand new class with two unique abilities: Hack and Steal.
• 3 New Abilities – The Scout, Support and Assault also get additional abilities
  • E-Pulse emitter – a deployable beacon that sends out an e-pulse making it difficult for enemy units to install automata in that area
  • Tactical Echo emitter – a deployable beacon that send out a Tactical Echo from a fixed location making the area hard to infiltrate by hidden enemy units
  • Guard Drone – The Assault gets a stationary Buddy drone; deploy it in one place and it guards the location from a ground level.
    
• 3 New Weapons – Welcome old friends and new with this pack of weapons for the Scout, Assault and Support:
  • M82 – the classic assault rifle of choice from Killzone 2 and 3 is back!
  • L512 SMG Pistol – this amazing machine pistol makes your tactical secondary weapon of choice that much more punch
  • Sta14 Rifle – The sniper rifle of many battles past adds to your long distance sniping arsenal.
    
• New Single Player Elite Mode – The nightmarish difficulty of Elite Mode will test the hardest of warriors
• New Online Collectibles – Find the online collectibles crates in game for rewards
• Insurgent Personalisation Pack –
  • 1 OWL Skin
  • 3 Spotlight Moves
  • 1 Voice Over pack containing HGH and VSA battle chatter voices

The Insurgent Pack will be available on the Store in April for €9.99. Of course, you get it for free with the Season Pass, which gives you all the essential Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer DLC at the best value.

But don’t worry; we’ve got something to help you pass the time until The Insurgent Pack comes out. When we revealed MP at gamescom, we promised you that all of the DLC multiplayer maps for Killzone Shadow Fall would be free – and the first two are now on PlayStation Store for you to download! The first of these free map packs includes two very distinct maps inspired by key locations from the single-player campaign, and are also completely compatible with the game’s Custom Warzone Feature. Check them out in these brand new trailers.

The Cruiser map is set in a decommissioned VSA cruiser full of narrow, labyrinthine passages and interconnected compartments. Perfect for close-to-mid-range combat, the key to owning this map is identifying and dominating its many choke points.

Then we have The Hangar which takes place in the hangar bay of one of Helghan’s vast and lofty mining spires. This wide-open map combines large exposed spaces, perfect for sniping, as well as alternative routes to seek out and secure for total domination.

All of this sounds exciting but still on the fence? Or maybe you have some friends you’ve been trying to convince to give Shadow Fall a go? There’s a FREE multiplayer trial going on RIGHT NOW (ending March 11th) that’s the perfect way to check the game out, master the new free maps, and whet your appetite for the upcoming expansion. Best of all: PS Plus will NOT be required to participate in this free MP week!

To sweeten the offer even more, Killzone Shadow Fall will be available at $39.99 through 3/11 at Amazon!

We hope you enjoy the first of these free maps – keep an eye out on PlayStation.Blog for more coming your way this year.

Divinity: Original Sin is looking positively divine. Honestly, in the sheer heat of the moment, I might be more excited about it than Pillars of Eternity or Wasteland 2. I already spoke at length with Larian head Swen Vincke during a massive video play session, but that wasn’t enough. Afterward, we chatted about everything from the studio’s rocky, too-close-to-closure-for-comfort history to the possibility of using Divinity’s engine on a non-fantasy RPG to the chances that Larian goes back to Kickstarter. On top of all that, Vincke told me why having gender parity (one male, one female) on his writing team turned out to be the “best decision ever.”

Vincke’s admirably frank answers to roughly a million questions are below. 

… [visit site to read more]