Outside of PCs, the game will also be coming to Linux and Mac platforms. It will also launch on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One by way of the ID@Xbox program.

ARK: Survival Evolved is currently expected to launch 2016, with the developer mentioning in its Early Access FAQ that the game’s tenure in the program would be, “Approximately 1 year, with a full release planned for June 2016 coinciding with the console versions.”

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Studio Wildcard set out with the initial plan of making “AAA quality” games and “ambitious indie productions.” It’s because of this that they are developing ARK: Survival Evolved for a wide variety of platforms that includes Linux, Mac and the home console market.

Speaking about this, Jesse Rapczak, the co-founder and co-creative director at Studio Wildcard, has said, “We’re particularly excited to bring ARK to consoles, as open-world survival gameplay is typically found solely in PC games.”

Despite bringing the game to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the PC build has more features that are set to arrive upon the game’s completion. The PC build will include optional support for the Oculus Rift and it also gives access to the Steam Workshop which enables custom map and Mod support. The PC build will also allows players access to the Steam Economy, presumably with trading options.

With an early access build of the game coming to PC via Steam this June, the developers have commented on the game as it currently exists. It will include over 40 creatures (which will expand to more than 70), gas powered vehicles, enhanced building mechanics, items, weapons and more, the developers have also said, “Everything described on the full Features List is in the Early Access version right now — not all 100% polished, but designed to be fun. Over the next year, the game will be rapidly iterated on with updates usually coming 3 times per week, almost always including new features, balance and polish improvements, and bug fixes. We are extremely fast at development, and will continue to push forward with maximum energy to make the game ever-greater on a daily basis. We live and breath game development, this is what we do.”

Each server that will host the multiplayer games will have in excess of 100 players, with each action having an obvious consequence to other players. This is thanks to ARK: Survival Evolved being set in a mostly persistent world that is all tied into the games meta-universe which primarily exists by way of the Steam Economy.

Story

There isn’t much in the way of story for ARK: Survival Evolved, all that we’ve been told is that the gameplay itself will open up some of the games backstory. In an announcement press release for the game, an excerpt reads, “Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island among a herd of other confused humans. On ARK, they must then hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect against scorching days, freezing nights, volatile weather systems, dangerous wildlife, and potential enemies.”

Gameplay

ARK: Survival Evolved is a fairly standard open world survival game with one major twist in it’s gameplay. Unlike most other survival games which pit the player against zombies, other players or some sort of mutant enemy, ARK pits the player against Dinosaurs and other creatures which can be captured, tamed and then used as pets under the player’s control.

A major gameplay twist is that some of the larger creatures in the game can be ridden after they are equipped with a saddle. They can then be made more durable by attaching pieces of armour and equipment.

The player must maintain their energy up by eating and drinking. Each consumable plant and meat in the game will give the player a different return due to, “different nutritional properties.” Surprisingly though, should the player choose to, Human meat can also be consumed.

The need to feed is tied into world interaction as your character requires food and water for all physical actions and inventory weight can actually slow you down as you travel. On top of this, the game world is also influenced by a day and night cycle as well as randomized weather events. These weather patterns will cause the players hunger, thirst and temperature levels to fluctuate for added difficulty and realism.

You will need to craft shelter, build fires and make your own weapons to survive in the game world. You’re also going to be crafting clothes and other pieces of equipment that will help you survive the world. All crafted items come with durability levels, a wooden tool for example wouldn’t last as long as a metal one. Due to locational damage, you can expect your clothing to become quite ragged as you play the game if it’s not made out of hardy materials.

Characters

ARK: Survival Evolved doesn’t have a cast of NPCs. The player character is created through customization and can interact with other player characters throughout the world.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Development of the game was handed over to Neilo by Yu Suzuki, the director and producer of both Shenmue and Shenmue II. Yu Suzuki has the rights to make the game, after being allowed to do so by series publisher Sega.

Shenmue III, which is running on the powerful Unreal Engine 4, will launch by December 2017 for PC and PS4. It’s not yet clear if the game will come to Xbox One, though recent stretch goals in the game’s Kickstarter have hinted that this could be the case.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Shenmue III has been a highly sought after title for many gamers for quite some time, following the success of the two original titles which introduced mainstream gaming to quick time events.

Thus far, the game seems is being brought back through the sheer will of the video game community. This is evidenced by the fact that series director and producer, Yu Suzuki decided to fund the game through the Kickstarter platform. The response from the gaming community was unprecedented and the game quickly secured its funding, smashing numerous crowd funding records along the way.

The game’s official Kickstarter campaign was announced on June 15th of 2015 during the Sony E3 press conference in Los Angeles, California.

This accomplishment was soon mired by alleged money moving without public knowledge, contrary to the terms of the original Kickstarter post. These claims were partially legitimized an updated FAQ on the games page, an excerpt of which reads, “We are very sorry, but due to contractual obligations, details of outside investments will not be disclosed.”

Since then, excitement remains because of the game’s success, but many are of the mindset that this entire experience is nothing but a PR stunt to, A) Fund the game and B) Test the waters for AAA studios using crowdfunding rather than traditional funding avenues.

Yu Suzuki handed the games development to Neilo, a fairly small developer in the grand state of the industry, but Suzuki has commented on his decision, saying that it’s all to do with preserving the game’s cultural aspects. When asked why he didn’t partner with a western developer, Suzuki said, “There was that option, yes. But the biggest characteristic of Shenmue is culture.”

It has been confirmed that Shenmue III will actually have a smaller game world than that of it’s 2001 predecessor, Shenmue II. Suzuki has said that he will be focusing on creating a smaller and more detailed world, opposed to a large and somewhat barren feeling game world. Speaking about this, Suzuki said, “Ever since [Shenmue II] I always had decided that ‘for the next game, I’m going to go much deeper.’”

The game’s development team is said to feature staff from the original team and Masaya Matsukaze has also been confirmed to be returning to the game to voice protagonist Ryo Hazuki

Story

Shenmue III is a direct sequel to Shenmue II, as such the game picks up straight after the ending of Shenmue II. Plot details remain vague at this point, but we know that the game will follow returning characters Ryo Hazuki and Ling Shen Hua, as they try to uncover their shared destiny, but along the way we will also be introduced to a new antagonist that is known as Niao Sun.

Given that the game picks up where Shenmue II left off, Ryo Hazuki has arrived at Guilin, searching for the person that killed his father.

Gameplay

At the time of writing, gameplay specifics and mechanics have not been addressed. We simply know that the game will feature a Day and Night mechanic, a weather system, possible free form combat (Assassin’s Creed, Batman Arkham Series) and Ryo’s journal might return. Speaking about the Journal, Yu Suzuki has said,”I would like to bring back the Journal. That is an interesting idea, I will look into it.”

Characters

Thus far, these are the characters we know about.

• Ryo Hazuki – Shenmue protagonist, searching for his father’s killer.
• Ling Shen Hua – A mysterious girl with a fate seemingly tied to Ryo.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Alienation is currently slated to be published exclusively on the PlayStation 4 by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, though it currently lacks a release date.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Not much is known about Alienation or how it exists in development at this time. That being said, the announcement title for the game showed that it is currently in a playable state.

This was confirmed in a blog posting from the development staff that linked to their Twitter account. The tweet reads, “Yesterday some members of the press had a chance try a pre-alpha of #Alienation. We can’t wait to read the first impressions!”

The gameplay impressions were based on an early development build of the game that existed in a pre-alpha state. Speaking about the development process of the game, developer Mikael Haveri has said, “We’ve always been a tech-centric company. We start projects by just playing around with tech. We have our own engine which we’re always upgrading and trying out cool new things — new lighting systems, particle effects, and so on.”

He goes on to talk about how these experiments result in viable game ideas. Haveri says, “These experiments are the setting point, and then we start implementing those things in different game scenarios. Would this work best in a top-down shooter? Or would it be better suited to, say, a platformer? So it’s not like we were making Dead Nation and said to ourselves, ‘Oh, we should do this again… but with aliens!’ It was more like, ‘We’ve got this cool technology — how do we implement it in the best way?’”

When the announcement trailer was released, some players expressed concerns over the nature of gameplay. In an interview with Mikael Haveri, he mentioned some inspiration for the game, saying, “For example, we play a lot of Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, and a lot of different stuff to get inspiration. Then we take a concept we like and try and improve it or put a twist on it.”

This caused some players to wonder if the game would need a constant internet connection. Housemarque publicly addressed the issue on April 16th of 2015, saying, “To address some concerns: #Alienation can be played as a single player game, but features both co-op and PvP.”

When talking about Housemarque’s love of gameplay focused games, Haveri said, “It’s purely about the gameplay. In Resogun it’s twitch action. You have to be fully immersed in the game and if there’s even a hint of lag or if the framerate is not quite there then you have a problem. And twin stick shooters work that way, too. It’s pure gameplay. If it’s a good experience, it really becomes a part of you. People tell me when they play Resogun they get totally in the zone — and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. It’s gaming in its purest form.”

Story

At this time, there have been no story related elements revealed for the game.

Gameplay

Outside of a brief gameplay trailer that showed of the game’s twin stick mechanics, specifics haven’t been revealed. We do know that the game will pit the player (a space marine esque character) against vast hordes of alien enemies that come in different shapes and sizes.

Players can play the game on their own as a single player experience or team up with others to play the game cooperatively. A twist on the gameplay however is that players can “go rogue” and attack other players.

Also visible in the gameplay trailer is a type of portable energy shield.

Characters

At the time of writing, a cast of characters hasn’t been revealed.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Whether you love it or hate it, E3 is still a thing, and it brings both good news and bad news to gamers the world over as they pack into the conference hall or huddle around their screens. So like removing a dressing from a fresh wound, lets get the bad news out of the way first.

According to Best Buy, and given buoyancy by a lot of listings, boxart and imagery, the new game from Platinum Games’ is most likely Transformers Devastation.  That, if anything, is a kick in teeth with hobnailed boots. On a more interesting front, one that could be occupied by robotic dinosaurs, Guerrilla Games has registered domains for the PS4 exclusive title, Horizon. At the minute however, the site is just placeholder images, likely set to change following a showing at E3.

In other news, Ubisoft may have once again successfully managed to fit their foot in their mouth after releasing a survey for their customers to find out what they’ve been playing and what not. In the survey, Ubisoft wanted to know if you’ve been playing Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that doesn’t officially exist thus far. An accident, or a clever “leak“, that’s your decision to make.

Delivering your dose of testosterone for the day, The Coalition, formerly Black Tusk, have revealed the new Gears of War website in the lead up to to E3, saying that you should “stay tuned for more soon”, perhaps pointing towards a planned showing.

And finally, on a personal note. Bethesda has allegedly, accidentally announced Dishonored 2 according to a Kotaku report.

Life can’t get any better than this.

As we’ve mentioned before in our review, The Witcher 3 is an incredibly solid action role playing game that many other titles should aspire to match in quality and wealth of content. However there have been issues with the game’s stability and performance since launch but there is no doubt that CDPR are working hard to resolve all the pending bugs and issues.

CD Projekt Red have announced that there is a new patch in development for the popular fantasy game with patch 1.06 and Patch 1.05 expected to roll out on their respective platforms within the next week or so. Patch 1.06 for the PC includes a  number of fixes for the game such as the endless loading screen problem which would happen during a Ice Giant Quest and Geralt’s clothes being inexplicably wet after leaving a menu.

Other fixes include the gate opening issue in the crypt for the Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear, character interactions and finally a fix for a problem that restricted crafting and alchemy creations. CD Project Red’s Community Lead, Marcin Momot confirmed that patch 1.05 for PS4 and Xbox One is due after the PC version. Now venture forth, the patch should arrive soon.

We are well on our way to seeing some new Halo 5: Guardians content at this year’s E3 event, and hype levels for the game couldn’t be higher. In the past few weeks we’ve seen the return of Spartan Blue Team and even the return of ODST Edward ‘Eddie’ Buck as part of Agent Locke’s squad, played by the one and only Nathan Fillion. But what else can you expect to see?

Well thanks to an AMA on the Halo Subreddit, Xbox MVP Dan Hammill has shone some light on things. Regarding the gameplay, Hammill told series fans, “Enemy AI was top notch. Dueling with a sword Elite was a challenge. NOT comparable to Noble team, they were awful. They’re smarter. They talk to each other. One grunt blew all four of us up with a plasma. It was embarrassing. The Jackals jetpack up to you and stuff, but I didn’t see anything else I don’t believe.” He then goes on to mention how the new Promethean Soldiers might have “thrusters”.

Helping command the Team, Hammil talks about how issuing orders works well in the game, saying, “Commands felt as they should: The game was made with them in mind. I wouldn’t call them a gimmick. Think Halo Reach and how awful they all were. GET IN MY WARTHOG! Now you can tell them to with a button.”

On the graphical side of things, he mentions how the graphics have improved quite noticeably from the Beta testing period, he said, “As far as I’m aware I was playing at 1080p at the studio (could be wrong). Beta was 720. It just seemed very smooth.” This was prefaced by Hammill saying that he “didn’t see a stutter” whilst playing the game.

Touching on Multiplayer, he called it a “complementary new epic multiplayer experience”, which is going to be shown of at this years E3 event, set to take place in the next few days.

As E3 starts to roll out the carpet and fling open the doors, gamers are all getting themselves hyped up for the impending events and press conferences, many of which are sure to hold interesting information. One such thing to look forward to, especially for the Guardians amongst us, is the possibility of some news regarding Destiny’s next expansion.

Titled, The Taken King, the new content is expected to hit this September, but thus far the details are a little sketchy. But Bungie have released a teaser image of a container that reads, “Caution Explosive Projectile” has surfaced online. Speaking about the box in a hypothetical way, Bungie has said, “We know what you’re thinking: “What’s in the box?!” These and other surprises are on the way to E3,”…”Can’t wait to show you what we’ll unpack over the course of the show.”

Perhaps the contents of the box will point towards The Taken King. There’s not long to go now before you find out anyway. Earlier this week, some details on the next expansion pack were leaked. You can read all about it over here.

As previously discussed, the graphical fidelity of a Fallout game is of little consequence. But if you ignore the visual fidelity, which I reiterate is fine based on what we’ve seen, then you’re left with the gameplay experience. So what can you expect to see at E3? First person view, and a lot of it. Even if they have worked to tweak and improve the third person camera view, the game will most likely be predominantly played in a first person perspective.

Sure, exploring is good in third person mode because you can see more of you environment, but it’s a safe bet to assume that the demo will mostly be in first person. One of the biggest worries for Fallout 3, was how the 3D real time game world would incorporate a mechanic as intricate as V.A.T.S. This system was missing from the Fallout 4 announcement trailer, so if it’s present in the game, we will probably see it in some form at the show tomorrow.

Of course, we will also see new gameplay mechanics. The developers aren’t stupid, contrary to what many a raging fanboy would tell you. They have seen what can be done with their games by looking at the vast wealth of mods made available, and many of these mods make sense. Be it backpacks for carrying, weapon and armour customisation or even just the tweaking of already existing mechanics, you can expect the stage show to be (in part) prefaced by something like, “now you can do this” or, “we’ve changed how you do this”.

Fallout is most popular on PC, so by keeping the visuals somewhat lacking in comparison to other games, they will most likely make a game that will run well on more systems, regardless of whether they are high-end or not, thus boosting units sold and overall revenue. Besides, the game looks pretty good as is. 

I also think the demonstration will be as long as Skyrim which last around 20 minutes back at E3 2011. Hopefully the demonstration will also focus on how big the world is this time around, NPC behavior and how dynamic the side quests could be. Hopefully, Bethesda will give us an in-depth look at the combat system, new skills and gadgets.

And lastly, I am expecting a subtle, but impactful intro. The long story short here, is we will either get more VO from Mr Pearlman, or Three-Dog is going to introduce us to the game.

What are your expectations from Bethesda’s first ever E3 press conference tomorrow? Let us know in the comments sections below.

The PC audience will nearly always find a way to get what it wants, and despite the initial best efforts of Rockstar to keep gamers from modifying GTA V, the modding community has grown quickly. So with that in mind, it was only a matter of time before one of the most loved parts of past Grand Theft Auto games was reintroduced by way of a mod, right?

That’s right ladies and gents, the Jetpack is back and it’s just as pointlessly fun as ever. Created by JulioNIB, the mod reinstates the Jetpack and once again gives flight to the GTA protagonists. This results into interesting gameplay mechnics which you can check out in the video below.

The mod seems to still being internally tested, but it will receiving a public launch some time soon, and when that happens you can find and download the mod yourself at this link.  Happy flights everyone. Grand Theft Auto 5 is now available on PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Mass Effect 4, a hugely anticipated upcoming video game in a beloved series, is one of the main reasons, if not the only reason, to pay attention to EA at this year’s E3 event where we hope to see more of it. But there’s one place you can nearly always see something about the game.

That’s right, we’re of course talking about the personal Twitter feed of senior development director Chris Wynn who is a veritable treasure trove of small pieces of Mass Effect intrigue. Teasing the gaming community, as he is one to oft do, Chris recently posted an image of two screens side by side, captioned to read that the “awesomeness” can’t be contained on just one screen, requiring two instead.

The picture is blurred to help cover up any obvious Mass Effect 4 details leaking out early, but with that being said, it doesn’t look like there was much on screen that would have been considered a spoiler anyway. When one Twitter user jokingly said that his camera is out of focus because it was distracted, Wynn responded that it was intentional.

And how does player movement in Mass Effect 4 works compared to Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, Wynn stated that they are evaluatiing everything to deliver the “best player experience”.  Mass Effect 4 will most likely be shown off during next week’s E3.

When we review Mass Effect, one TV cannot contain it's awesomeness - pic.twitter.com/iukPGI4uTn

— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) June 9, 2015

@CmdrNinja that was intentional.

— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) June 9, 2015

@ReaperSlayer925 we are evaluating everything to see what offers the best player experience.

— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) June 10, 2015