Category: News

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Game: The Movie: The Trailer

We all know the classic story of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, after all it is the basis for countless reinterpretations in all sorts of media, but did you know that it all started with an NES game in 1988? When Japanese film company Toho, best known for its kaiju movies, created the game, they knew that it was too bad to sell by its own merit, so they decided to create an elaborate backstory in an effort to sell the title to unsuspecting victims.

In 1987 Toho commissioned a book based on the games story, but they couldn’t let just anyone write it. Secrecy was paramount and so we meet Robert Louis Stevenson, the supposed “author” of what should become a stable of English literature. But who is Robert Louis Stevenson? If we take a closer look at his name, it becomes apparent: Robert Louis Stevenson is an anagram for Subservient Lone Torso and he was the first Cyborg in human history. Toho created him with the sole intention of writing a novelization of the game, never expecting that he would retain fragments of his former self which would manifest in his writing. We don’t know for sure who the human part of this Robert Louis Stevenson was, some say it was the torso of the recently deceased Liberace, some think it was Andy Warhol’s, but his tale of two souls in one body would act as reminder of the dangers of cybernetic engineering for generations.

And this is how we ended up with two very different works of fiction. One about a guy taking a slow stroll through a city filled with maniacs and demons, one about the struggle with dissociative identity disorder. While the novelization was a huge success, the game never made an impact and so it is no surprise that all reinterpretations were based on the book. This is going to change soon however, thanks to a certain James Rolfe, better known as The Angry Video Game Nerd. Not only was he responsible for uncovering this relic of awfulness, he is also currently working on the first movie based on the original version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, more than 25 years after it was released and we have the trailer for it:

 

Disclaimer: Everything I wrote is of course true, minus the movie thing. It’s a stand-alone trailer, no movie coming. Sorry everybody.

Microsoft Adds Button Mapping to Standard Xbox One Controller

On November 16th, Microsoft added the ability to remap the buttons on your standard wireless controller for your XBox One. Those who want to change their button mapping can either launch the Xbox Accessories app or enter their Xbox One settings. If you don't have the app already, the link above will provide all the information you need to get it.

Remapping through the accessories app works by either swapping buttons or changing individual buttons through drop down menus. Looks altogether pretty simple.swapping mapexampleThose settings will only save on your console however, as the standard controllers don't have any on-board storage. So if you map your controls at home then take your controller to a friend's place, don't expect them to still be mapped the way you want. And sadly as of yet there is no PC support for said remapping, but it's on the way according to Microsoft.

 

[All Image Credits, Microsoft]

Mutator Mashups: Rocket League Adds New Game Modes

On November 9th, the good folks at Psyonix released the new Mutator Mashup mode for everyone's favorite competitive vehicular soccer game, Rocket League. The additions include changes to gravity, ball size and speed, the levels of bounciness, and even automatically filling boost guages.

Along with the new game modes come 20 new unlockables in the form of flags and antennas including Fallout Boy, just in time for Fallout 4. Also involved are a few various fixes and changes, I'll link the full patch notes here.

Game play is still still as fun as ever, but quite a bit different in the mashups. For instance Beach Ball mode, makes the ball around a third the size of the goal itself which is pretty damn big. This is accompanied by and slower ball speed, which can throw off your timing like nobody's business. You wouldn't think it'd be difficult to hit a ball the size of a single car garage, but until you adjust yourself to the different physics the game puts in place it's pretty easy to sail right by it.

As always, click any image to see it full size.

Giant ballGiant goal

In contrast Pinball mode, makes the ball considerably smaller than the original ball size and is super bouncy and super fast. This equates to something like playing paddle ball on the hood of your car while driving 80mph. Because of the balls size it's pretty hard to hit and the slightest touch will send it careening in another direction. I could only really get one good shot of the ball to get an idea of the size and it was at the start of the match.

small ball
A little tough to see, but it's in there.

In Moonball mode, the ball is bigger than normal and your boost guage fills automatically. Gravity is also very low, like crazy low. Jump once while you're moving and you'll probably fly across the arena. Which makes things pretty fun with your quickly filling boost guage.

big ball

There's also the Cubic mode, which presents normal physics but the ball of course will bounce all over the place from its lack of spherical form and your boost guage will automatically fill slowly. This creates some pretty uniqe challenges. Like wtf do I do when it's coming at the goal? This is also one of the original game modes from Super Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars. Pretty cool I say.

square ball

Square goalie
ZOMGsquareballWTF

square

And Finally there's Timewarp mode. The physics are all normal, the ball is the normal size etc. but every few seconds the game goes in to slow motion. This is something akin to playing with induced lag on bad hardware. It's not my personal favorite but like Cubic mode it was an original mode from Super Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars, which makes it cool.

Timewarp

So far it seems you can only choose to join the Mashup playlist to find matches with ever changing random settings, and it's only 3v3 so far. So no choosing your favorite mode yet, at least not online anyway. However you can choose a custom mode in private match and exhibition settings. It's a lot of fun added to what's already an incredibly fun game. And a major plus to all this is that the new game modes and new collectibles are completely free. No DLC to purchase, just a 665mb patch to download and you're ready to roll, so to speak.

Divinity: Original Sin, Enhanced Edition – First impression? Still Lovely.

Just a few days ago at the time of this article's writing, Larian Studios released the enhanced version of what is in my mind one of the best turn based rpgs of it's kind: Divinity Original Sin. This new and enhanced version comes with something like 1300 changes including controller support, better graphics, better optimization, 360 degree camera control, full voice over for all characters, even split screen co-op. Of course there are many more than I want to list so I'll link the full changelog here in case you're interested in seeing everything. Even better, Larian gave us lucky folks this enhanced version for free as long we already owned the previous Original Sin title. Mac and Linux users will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer but it's coming so don't fret.

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Back to the Future Day Comes to Rocket League

Way back in 1989 on December 22nd in movie theaters Back to the Future 2, was released and we got to see Marty and the Doc go forward in the future to October 21st, 2015. Today IS  October 21st, 2015 and that means It's Back to the Future day. How cool is that? From this point forward all the Back to the Future films will have taken place in the past. Boom... mind blown.

The fine folks at Psyonix have celebrated this wondrous occasion with the release of the Back to the Future, car pack for their popular title Rocket League. In the form of pure awesome this pack contains access to Doc. Brown's, DeLorean Time Machine. It'll cos you two bucks, but come on people it's the DeLorean Time Machine!

You get the DeLorean, the Outatime Boost Trail, and the DeLorean Time Machine wheels and tires. You'll be locked in to these options when you use the car, and you can only change the colors in the primary paint options, no graphics or secondary paint.

Here are some screens of the venerable Time Machine in action, as always click images to see them full size.

2015-10-21_000072015-10-21_000082015-10-21_00009title featurego fast2015-10-21_000052015-10-21_000042015-10-21_000032015-10-21_00002

 

Some new Nintendo news from the wankers over at the Wall Street Journal

We got some new information on the Nintendo NX. According to the fucking (Pay-)Wall(ed) Street Journal, development kits for Nintendo’s announced but not really console or whatever have been distributed to select third-party developers.

The NX will “likely include both a console and at least one mobile unit that could either be used in conjunction with the console or taken on the road for separate use”, at least according to the fucking Wall Street Journal, who in turn got that info from “people familiar with the development plans”.

Do I need to point out the obvious in that? Who are those people the Wall Humper Journal got their info from? My grandma is familiar with Nintendo’s development plans: Release a couple of Mario games, maybe a Zelda one. Done.
The Tosser Journal then continues with another amazing prediction: Nintendo is aiming “to put industry-leading chips in the NX devices”. Yeah, no shit?! Industry leading? So they are faster than the day-1 obsolete hardware in current gen systems? Wow.

The best is yet to come though, and I won’t even comment on that (that, I’ll leave to you): “We are increasingly of the idea that Nintendo might launch the NX in 2016 because of the softness of 3DS and Wii U.”

 

no, I won't even link to the article

Picture: Sadly no idea. Let me know if you find out

Xbox One Wireless Adapter for PC: Is it worth it to you?

Earlier this year information was released about the Xbox One wireless PC adapter and it's date of release. It seems that the adapter itself will be available on October 20th and will allow you to sync a controller with your PC and stream your PC and Xbox games to Windows. All for $24.99.

The package will also include a USB extender for the adapter. Say your computer is in one room while you've decided to run a long HDMI cable to your sixty inch TV in another room and you want to use that as your monitor, the USB extender will make sure your controller is still in range so you can do that.

Microsoft's page (from the link above) says that the adapter will support up to eight wireless controllers and up to four chat headsets or two stereo headsets.

 

Xbone_wireless

Cool in theory, though this information isn't all that exciting to me personally. Firstly, wireless stuff isn't important to me almost 100% of the time. Secondly, the adapter will only work with Widows 10. At least for now. Thirdly, this adapter is slated to cost $24.99 (which, honestly, may not be so bad considering it's abilities).

So what do you think? Is this adapter worth the cost to stream your games on your Windows 10 PC? Or are you satisfied with wires and not changing batteries like me?

There Will Be No New TF2 Halloween Event This Year

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. Not because of all the candy, but because of Team Fortress 2's yearly Halloween events. What started out as a King of The Hill map and a ghastly gibus quickly transformed into blown-out boss fights and carnival games. They really brought new life to TF2 every year, and the costumes were a funny way to add more spice to the game.

Last year's event had bumper cars, rubber ducks and a Rocket League style football match.

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