Hajime Tabata is definitely a talented man- this is evident and clear by the fact that he could take the ten year long mess that was Final Fantasy Versus 13, turn it into Final Fantasy 15, and put it out as an unexpectedly great product when it launched last year.

But Final Fantasy 15, while definitely a major success for him, was not his baby- it was still someone else’s game that he helped finish. No, Tabata’s true test as a game maker would come if he did his own original game- and that is exactly what he is known to be working on. We know that he is working on a new IP- and speaking to Eurogamer, he revealed some new information about this project.

“Our new project is very much going to use the Luminous engine. That’s the future of the engine – in the mid-term it’s being used for the PC version [of Final Fantasy 15],” he said. Which makes sense- the Luminous Engine is known to be a disaster, but at the same time, Square has already sunk money into it, so it might as well be used. Moreover, with Tabata and his team being familiar and comfortable with the engine from Final Fantasy 15, it does make sense that they would want to stick with it for the time being.

He also confirmed that we are a long way from seeing the game for now, as the game is being targeted at next gen systems- it is actually not even in pre-production yet, and any preliminary work being done on it is by a small skeleton team. Unlike with many other Square projects, he confirmed that he does not wish to show it off too early, and then have people wait for it for years.

“What I really wanted to do is use everything I learnt from working on Final Fantasy and put it into something new,” he said. “You don’t get that many opportunities in the games industry to make something new when you want, so I really wanted to put everything into that. And also discussing with my boss, Mr. Matsuda, he thinks from a strategic perspective, using the 15 team to do something completely new, it’s a very important strategy. It all works out. I’ll let you know that we won’t be announcing anything for quite a while! I remember what you told me two years ago at Gamescom – without a release date, why did you come to Gamescom! I’m not going to do that again!”

It sounds good, all of it- and I certainly think Tabata could flourish with his own project if he had the chance, which it now sounds that he will. Here’s hoping he manages to pull it off, and pull it off well.

Taking on the role of a skilled mercenary during the one hundred years’ war between England and France in the 1400s, much like Koei Tecmo’s most popular series Dynasty Warriors, the game takes advantage of real-life historical battles while mixing in some fantasy fiction for good measure. While the original title is at best an HD upgrade it’s the Nightmare sequel that holds the most promise within this package.

"While the original title is at best an HD upgrade it's the Nightmare sequel that holds the most promise within this package."

Ramping up the fictional elements of the game through the use of demonic creatures, goblins, cyclops, and dragons. Nightmare mode picks up where the first game ended and places the heroic Joan of Arc as the game’s new antagonist. Overcome evil by leading an army of monsters in to the middle of the war. It’s up to the player to create a custom character, join up with a faction, and battle through the many different battles that the story has to offer.

Presented with the game’s character creation system which is where players will make their first stop. Players will be given plenty of distinct and unique choices for character creation, and this is useful as the game makes use of both competitive and co-operative online play. With choices for hair, skin tone, gender, body size, and voice tone, the game establishes the basics of character creation then expands upon this through the use proportion manipulation and more in-depth facial structures, along with basic preset variants.

" Overcome by evil and leading an army of monsters in to the middle of the war. "

As gameplay operates on a three-character party system whereby the player controls all three characters at once via a button switch. Character customisation makes use of a slot system so that multiple characters can be used throughout the game’s playthrough.

While weapon choices are fairly basic at this point, as the player progresses through, the game’s story more will become available to purchase later on down the line through the use of gameplay requirements. For those not so familiar with the series, Bladestorm: Nightmare plays as a third-person, real-time tactics game that places the player in control of multiple units being lead in to battle by the player’s custom character.

Experienced through the same perspective as Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty, Samurai, and Orochi Warrior series, Bladestorm: Nightmare sets itself apart through a timed action and execute system as the base of its combat. Switching between three main characters while executing powerful attacks and giving orders to smaller sets of troops within the player’s main unit, combat is both immersive and strategic.

"As gameplay operates on a three-character system whereby the player controls three characters at once via a button switch. "

What’s great about this approach to the game’s combat system and the way that it’s structured compared to the publisher’s other titles, is in the way it deals with the number of enemies on-screen, as well as their actual use-case in battle. This stood out to me as one of the game’s key factors for immersion as well as overall gameplay enjoyability. Said to have over 400 NPCs on-screen at once, character pop-ins are drastically improved in regards to the original last-gen variant.

While the visual upgrade serves well in keeping the game relevant for today’s standards, something that also stood out to me was the game’s disturbing frame-rate.  While all versions of the game are targeting 30 frames-per-second with the PC version most likely being down to the player’s own mileage, I did notice some inconsistencies when playing on the PlayStation 4.

Amongst the incredible amount of characters on-screen, object details, and draw distances, the inconsistent frame-rate proved to be distorting at times. Hopefully this will be finalised before the game’s March 20th release date, as everything else that the game has to offer is without a doubt an exciting and enjoyable experience with plenty of depth and content.

This game was previewed on the PlayStation 4.

NBA 2K14 is hitting the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, and we have just received our first look at next generation basketball gaming thanks to the trailer above; which, as it hastens to remind us, is comprised of actual, in game footage. And man, it looks stunning.

Of course, little to no gameplay of any consequence is actually shown- the trailer acts as a graphical showcase, and a promise of what kind of realism to expect from the game once it hits both systems. In those terms, it is a resounding success, considering just how good it looks, how beyond anything we have seen from similar games on current gen hardware.

NBA 2K14 will be releasing on PlayStation 4 November 15, and on Xbox One November 22, serving as a launch title for both systems. Unlike other cross generation games, it looks like it will actually be making good use of all that power under the hood.

After the DRM reversal, Microsoft has decided to remove a popular feature that was wanted by many consumers called ‘Family Sharing.’ This feature allowed users to share their digital library with friends and family via Xbox Live on Xbox One.

Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten has spoke to IGN and discussed how the Family Sharing feature could possibly be returning sometime in the future after the launch of Xbox One.

This is what he had to say to IGN:

“If it’s something that people are really excited about and want, we’re going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back

“A ‘road map’ sort of implies more like ‘on date X it’s back’ than I think exists, but we believe really strongly in how you build a great experience on Xbox One for me as an individual, but also for my family. Family Sharing is a great example of how you do that with content.”

Whitten continued: “We took some feedback and realized there was some stuff we needed to add to the program. To add it to the program, we had to make room, just from a pure engineering perspective, to be able to get that work done.

“So taking Family Sharing out of the launch window was not about ‘we’re going to take our toys and go home’ or something like that. It was just sort of the logistics of ‘how do we get this very, very clear request that people really want, that choice, and how do we make sure we can do an excellent job of that, get to launch, and then be able to build a bunch of great features?’

“You know, if there’s anything I think that Xbox 360 has proven, it’s that we’re super committed to this constant cycle of improving the experience and the software, and it’s what we’ve been doing for 360 for the past seven years, and it’s certainly where we’re going to go with Xbox One.”

Looks like there is a good chance that Family Sharing will return sometime in 2014. Let us know what you think of the situation in the comments section down below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates on the story.

According to PS4.sx the release date for the much-anticipated next-generation platform – PlayStation 4 is November 13th 2013. You can look at the website and see a countdown that points towards the November 13th 2013 date. However, this date was also previously rumored on other websites as the European release date for PlayStation 4.

This doesn’t confirm anything at the moment due to the fact that it’s not official. The November 13th 2013 date for Europe makes sense, however; GameStop and other retailers in the US have been hearing late October for the US.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Creative Director Confirmed to Outside Xbox the PlayStation 4 and Current-Gen versions of the game are “Same Ship”. This implies that the the PlayStation 4 will come out 31st of October/November 1st for the US. Meanwhile, the European market is pointing towards November 13th.

All in all, everything is still a rumor and should be taken with a grain of salt. Sony might announce the date at this year’s Gamescom in August.

Let us know what you think of the PlayStation 4 release date in the comments section down below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

The original creator of the Earthworm Jim series is happening to be teasing a new Earthworm Jim game via Facebook. Doug TenNapel on Facebook says “Everyone loves Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, and I don’t generally acknowledge EWJ 3 [Earthworm Jim 3D] as a real part of the Jim universe. So if I was making another Jim game, would it be too confusing to call it Jim 3? Or would it have to be Jim 4? How about ‘Earthworm Jim 4 the Fans’?”

A new Earthworm Jim game on next-generation consoles would be fantastic or even a triple-A Earthworm Jim indie game would still be fascinating, given the reach of tablets and mobiles.

Let us know if you are looking forward to a new Earthworm Jim game in the future, in the comments section below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

For those of you who were afraid that the current gen versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts, the upcoming entry in the long running shooter saga, would be nerfed now that the studio Infinity Ward has the next generation versions of the game to focus on, don’t worry. Infinity Ward says it is handling development duties on all versions of the game, and that it is treating them all equally.

Speaking to Polygon, Hirshberg, Activision’s CEO of publishing, had this to say: “We have the same development team working on the games for the next generation and the current generation, because what this ensures is that the current generation isn’t an afterthought or something that is just outsourced,” Hirshberg told Polygon. “We want to be sure that we consider the things that are the innovations going into the next generation of games that the current generation can benefit from.”

Call of Duty: Ghosts is out later this year on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, and Xbox One. A Wii U version is also reportedly in the works.

Check out the screenshots set and artwork for Withcer 3: The Hunt below:

Artwork:

Judging from the screenshots and artwork above the game looks quite beautiful and definitely has its own style and charm to it. Witcher 3: The Hunt is going to be one of the most biggest games next year especially for the RPG fans such as myself and many others in the world.

Next week at E3 we will be covering Witcher 3. Expect a vast amount of new information and media soon so keep your eyes peeled for this one.

Let us know if you’re excited for the Witcher 3: The Hunt when it releases sometime next year for next-generation platforms and PC in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for our E3 2013 coverage next week.

City Interactive has released official information today regarding their main character Harkyn from their upcoming next-generation third-person action RPG game Lords of the Fallen.

Harkyn will be shaped according to how you play the game and how you decide to use his abilities and skill trees throughout your monster-slaying adventure in Lords of the Fallen.

This is what Tomasz Gop, Executive Producer on Lords of the Fallen revealed today about Harkyn.

“Harkyn is not your ordinary hero. Our team is committed to creating a distinct character and a gameplay experience unique to every player, as well as a deep, secretive history that players will be rewarded for upon discovering. We’re excited to show Lords of the Fallen, our main character, Harkyn, and the advanced combat mechanics for the first time at E3 next week.”

Lords of the Fallen sounds really promising, and a next-gen action RPG is always welcome. I will personally be covering this game next week at E3 so keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested.

Let us know if you’re excited for Lords of the Fallen in the comments below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for our coverage of Lords of the Fallen next week.

Tiny Brains is an upcoming  cooperative puzzle game that is designed for a total of four players. The game has four tiny different animals with special powers such as Force, Create, Vortex and Teleport. You can pretty much guess what every animal does just by reading their name.

In Tiny Brains, each player must work cooperatively to solve puzzles in order to get through levels. Tiny Brains is going to be a downloadable puzzle game for current-gen systems, next-gen platforms and PC this Fall.

The game was recently showed off at PAX East and now will be appearing again at E3 in June. The game has received positive feedback regarding its gameplay elements and fun factor at PAX East.

Let us know if you’re interested in Tiny Brains, in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates and media for Tiny Brains.