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Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
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July 2015

You are browsing the archive for July 2015.

Fallout 4 Theories Confirmed: How You Survived the Vault

July 29, 2015

Fallout 4 has had plenty of news come out around it over the course of the last few weeks, and will likely have plenty more afoot before the game actually arrives in stores. One major point has been settled: just how you--as the player--managed to survive, and as it turns out, our earlier projections were proven somewhat right.

You'll remember that, back in late June, we offered up three possible projections as to how you can not only be alive for 200 years after the bombs drop, but sufficiently alive that your Mr. Handy unit Codsworth recognizes you. There were three ways I could immediately project, and those were cryogenics, cloning and the thought that you were an android duplicate as opposed to a human being.

At the time, I put the weight on the android theory, with cryonics second and cloning as the long shot. A new report in Game Informer notes that, 200 years after the fact, you'll be emerging from cryosleep as the last survivor of Vault 111.



There's One Big Problem With the Fallout 4 Mod Tools...

July 28, 2015

...they don't technically exist yet. That's right; the mod tools for "Fallout 4" aren't actually around to do anything with.

That's not exactly great news, especially for a game that's big selling point was its ability to be modified. But there's actually a good reason for this; reports direct from Pete Hines say that the company is focusing on getting the game done ahead of its November launch date. Then, in 2016, the company will move to mod tools in 2016.

With the launch date a little over three months out, the news that "Fallout 4" is "basically done," as a separate report from Pete Hines noted, means that there's just a few basic things to do.



Five Nights At Freddy's 4 Arrives, Already

July 27, 2015

Remember that first time you played, or just watched, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Chica or Bonnie--probably not Freddy at first--jumped out of nowhere and waggled their collective anatomy in your face? Remember jumping in your seat? Well, we just got a similar-style scare as the release of "Five Nights at Freddy's 4" leapt out of a dark corner and waggled a $7.99 price tag at us.

Yes, that's right; the game that everyone thought wasn't coming until Halloween is apparently now available on Steam at the aforementioned $7.99 price tag. There were reportedly some issues with the fullscreen option, but reports suggest that Cawthon expects fairly quick fixes for it.

Keyboard and Mouse for Xbox One May Be Coming Soon

July 22, 2015

While console gamers and PC gamers have been somewhat at odds of late, there are some surprising interminglings that make these two seemingly disparate groups more similar than some might expect. A new development coming fairly soon to Xbox One will narrow the gap still further, as support for keyboard and mouse is "not far away."

The word about the new control scheme came from Microsoft's Phil Spencer, who hit Twitter with the news. Though there was already keyboard support for Xbox One, according to reports, the move will mean official support for the devices, without the need for adapters, end runs, or anything similar.

Spencer reportedly also noted a possibility of streaming a Windows 10 PC to the Xbox One, and also the Xbox team is said to be working on the reverse as well, where the Xbox One's content can be streamed to a PC, a feature that will reportedly go live when Windows 10 does.

Having gamed on PC before, and having largely switched to console since thanks to the greater simplicity and ease of use--I've long since had enough of adjusting settings and checking box specs before buying a piece of software--I can say that there's not much I miss about the PC gaming experience. Sure, there are games I'd love to see migrate to consoles that are playable on PC.





Five Nights At Freddy's Four Trailer Launches, Fanbase Freaks Out

July 21, 2015

Although the headline might sound like a slam on Five Nights at Freddy's--or FNAF, as it's commonly known--fans, I have to admit they've got good reason. The fourth installment of Five Nights at Freddy's, set to arrive this Halloween and just under two weeks ahead of Fallout 4, looks like it's about to do something totally different.

While admittedly, the layout of every FNAF title has been different--the smaller Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria to start with, the larger version of the second one, the Fazbear's Fright horror experience of the third--each has been in a business revolving around these animatronic horrors. But this version, the trailer revealed, will be somewhere completely different: someone's house.

Naturally, that's got a lot of people wondering what the deal is, and while it's possible that we're not actually in someone's house but a clever facsimile of same, the trailer shows what is clearly a house with beds, at least two hallways, a closet, and similar such features.



Will Skyrim Improve Fallout 4? Todd Howard Says Yes.

July 20, 2015

It's been the universal problem for Fallout games since the third one, and in many ways, the problem with pretty much every Bethesda game so far: glitches. Those random, game-breaking bugs that have players clipping through rocks, falling through the floor into the universal nothingness beneath the thin crust of a gaming reality, and just plain old locking up, forcing a hard reset and recovery from a save that hopefully wasn't corrupted.

But new reports from no less than Fallout 4 director Todd Howard suggests that Skyrim's problems may mean a saving grace for Fallout 4.

Howard noted that the biggest concern, as far as Fallout 4 went, was protecting saved data. If the game crashes, well, that's a problem, but a problem that can be fixed with a simple reset.



Fathom Events Readies International DOTA 2 Championship for the Big Screen

July 15, 2015

With all the post-E3 fallout, not to mention all the news about the latest Fallout, Fallout 4, we haven't heard a lot about the e-sports market lately. But needless to say, this is a field that's still going great guns by most every applicable standard, and there's one big point that will help fuel that concept as the International DOTA 2 Championship makes its way to the big screen.

More specifically, Fathom Events--a firm already well-known for providing unusual event releases to movie theaters--will be bringing the International DOTA 2 Championship to movie theaters. The event will be broadcast live, according to reports, and seen at almost 400 theaters throughout the United States. A complete list of said theaters can be found at Fathom Events' website, with updates said to be made "daily."

Naturally, this is one of the biggest events in the e-sports calendar, and there will likely be plenty of viewers on hand at Seattle's KeyArena to watch the action live.



QuakeCon 2015: Another Bad Bright Idea From Bethesda

July 14, 2015

I don't know what's going on out in the hallowed halls of Bethesda these days, but these guys keep putting out some really great ideas with absolutely catastrophic downsides to them. First it was offering a giveaway game that most of its target market probably already had, and now it's a strange development out of QuakeCon 2015, featuring one of the most hotly anticipated games of the year, Fallout 4.

This time around, the idea focuses on QuakeCon 2015, a major event by any standard boosted to a fever pitch by the revelation that, this year, there would be a special gameplay demo of Fallout 4 joining the fracas this year, along with new looks at Doom and The Elder Scrolls Online. Great, except for one key point: the Fallout 4 demo will not be streamed, but only shown to attendees.

See what I mean? Another great idea with serious downside.



R.I.P Satoru Iwata

July 13, 2015

Satoru Iwata was a man who experienced a lot of things. He's seen the development of a host of different games and different systems. And now, word has emerged that Satoru Iwata has passed on following a bile duct growth. As sad a day as this is for gamers everywhere--and Nintendo fans in particular--it leaves some unpleasant questions in its wake.

Iwata's career has gone on for some time, starting out as a freelance programmer for HAL Laboratory.

My Time in Bethesda's Fallout Shelter

July 8, 2015

One of the biggest surprises of E3 2015 was Bethesda's revelation that it had made a completely different kind of Fallout game: Fallout Shelter. This resource management vault simulation was weak sauce compared to the grand buffet of graphic and plot excess that would be coming our way this November--which can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned--but after trying it anyway, I found myself surprisingly pleased with this little title.

Some have called it a shameless cash grab, a title that's not only incorrect, but is also downright scurrilous. The game is being given away at no charge, for one, and though there are microtransactions involved, this is no pay-to-win title; the purchase options just provide a few extra resources, the kind that can readily be had within the game itself just by playing it and accomplishing various challenges.

Though admittedly, this isn't the kind of game I play often, my time with it was still sufficiently enjoyable. I doubt I'll come back to my Vault often--the resource management gameplay tends to require a certain kind of mentality to enjoy, and I don't think I do--I could see playing it in 10 minute increments every so often.



Sega's Hajime Satomi Talks Consoles and Trust

July 7, 2015

If someone were to say that Sega as a company had seen better days, it would be hard to dispute that. After all, it seems like a lot of Sega's most innovative console titles are relegated to the distant past, replaced by a trickle of low-rent Sonic the Hedgehog properties. But recently, Sega's CEO Hajime Satomi offered up a bit of a rallying cry for Sega's faithful, with some new plans and a bit of "mea culpa" thrown in.

Satomi was spotted speaking to Famitsu, and Siliconera threw in the translation where Satomi noted that the company had "broken trust" with long-time fans. "Sonic Boom" had proven less than welcome, and when Sega shut down the San Francisco office and had not so much as a booth at E3 in the midst of an incredible season, it didn't bode well to the Sega faithful at all.

But Satomi did seem to throw a bone or two to those who thought that Sega was getting out of the console field altogether, drawing comparisons to that and Konami, whose plans prompted some to wonder if the company was set to leave the field.

Certainly, Sega was once a great developer.





The Fallout 4 Pre-Order Deal: A Brilliant Stupid Idea

July 6, 2015

I hate to say ill about any company willing to give away a free game in exchange for a pre-order, but there's one very serious problem with the Fallout 4 pre-order deal making the rounds on Xbox One. It's a great idea overall, but there's one small problem of logic that, in this case, prevents it from being much use.

For those not already familiar with the deal, essentially, those who pre-order Fallout 4 as a download through the Xbox Store will get a code within seven to 10 days for a free download of Fallout 3 for Xbox 360. It will be playable immediately on Xbox 360, and from there will likely be backward compatible with Xbox One, though no one's sure as yet just when that particular move will happen.

But those who want to pre-order it elsewhere will be accommodated too. A retail pre-order will net a similar download code, but will be provided when the buyer picks up the physical copy of Fallout 4 on November 10 when it releases.



A Game Ban Spree in Australia Precedes New Ratings System

July 1, 2015

If you thought there was a drought of games available in the United States, well, you wouldn't be alone. Personally, there's not a whole lot catching my attention until September 1's arrival of Mad Max ahead of the big magilla that is Fallout 4. But in Australia, the gaming drought is even worse thanks to government regulations that have seen over 200 games get banned in the country in just four months.

I assure you that you read that correctly; over 200 games banned in four months. That's an average of around two games a day, every day, for four months straight, a development that gave me a double take the first time I clapped eyes to it myself.

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