X-Box, Playstation, and Wii Game News

[king3pj]

Well you know how most people were mad at Tell Tale because Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones had insufferable waiting times between episodes? Well apparently they have heard these complaints, because Episode 2 of Minecraft: Story Mode is out today. They just put it out today. For reference, episode 1 came out TWO WEEKS ago.

https://mojang.com/2015/10/minecraft-story-mode-episode-2-now-available/

Speaking of Minecraft Story Mode I was just at my local target and saw that they are already selling it on disc. Anyone who was upset about Fallout 4 on PC leaving a portion of the game of the disc should be furious about this because only 20% of the game is actually on the disc.

If you look at the fine print it says that the disc only includes episode 1 and you can download the other 4 episodes. Parents buying this for their kids won't notice that part though. They will just see the Minecraft box as they are walking down the isle and put it in their cart.

It makes no sense for Tell Tale to be selling disc based versions of their game before the complete season is released. I'm sure it will help their Christmas shopping sales numbers to have a physical copy on store shelves this holiday though. It will definitely get more exposure that way than if they just hoped mom and dad know how to browse the Xbox One and PS4 online marketplace.

Here it is for sale on Amazon if you are interested in seeing it for yourself.
Amazon product ASIN B014XCWXIW

 

[Scherrman]

This made me laugh.. (Not embedded due to language.)

Speaking of, the embargo for Fallout 4 ends on November 9 at 8am EST. The reviewers will have the game for about 2 weeks.

http://www.gamepur.com/news/20964-f...november-9-exact-timing-revealed-insider.html

Wish I could find a way to take a few weeks off from work and kids. Going to be hard finding time to play it. One more week!!!

 

[yourbeliefs]

Speaking of Minecraft Story Mode I was just at my local target and saw that they are already selling it on disc. Anyone who was upset about Fallout 4 on PC leaving a portion of the game of the disc should be furious about this because only 20% of the game is actually on the disc.

If you look at the fine print it says that the disc only includes episode 1 and you can download the other 4 episodes. Parents buying this for their kids won't notice that part though. They will just see the Minecraft box as they are walking down the isle and put it in their cart.

It makes no sense for Tell Tale to be selling disc based versions of their game before the complete season is released. I'm sure it will help their Christmas shopping sales numbers to have a physical copy on store shelves this holiday though. It will definitely get more exposure that way than if they just hoped mom and dad know how to browse the Xbox One and PS4 online marketplace.

Here it is for sale on Amazon if you are interested in seeing it for yourself.
Amazon product ASIN B014XCWXIW

I do agree that selling a game before it's "done" isn't the best idea, but then again, if they keep up with this "A new episode every 2 weeks" plan, they'll have this thing completely out at around December 9, making it all out well in time for Christmas. I have to imagine they have a plan like that, because they can't sell something like this at retail with the traditional model of the entire game taking the better part of a year for release. And this game is targeted towards a younger/family audience, and that audience is NOT a fan of waiting for long periods of time. A good number of sales of the retail version will be people who have no experience with Tell Tale and their release model, so they have to have a different plan this time. At least, I'd friggin' hope they have a different plan, or else they're going to have a lot of angry kids and parents yelling at them.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Well this isn't exactly unexpected, but it looks like Konami has finally divorced itself completely from Kojima and the Metal Gear Solid studio by formally shutting down his old studio. They were responsible for Metal Gear Solid Online, which was then sent over to Konami in Japan for further support.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/3/96...ductions-los-angeles-studio-closed-metal-gear

 

[yourbeliefs]

The official Pip Boy app is out.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9674290/fallout-4-pip-boy-app-official-video

 

[yourbeliefs]

Need for Speed dev says there's no plans to charge for DLC. Good thing, as the reviews so far have been lukewarm at best.

http://www.vg247.com/2015/11/05/were-going-to-give-you-everything-for-free-says-need-for-speed-dev/

 

[yourbeliefs]

If you desperately want to play the new Call of Duty at midnight and there's A: No Gamestop/Game Store with a midnight event, B: You don't have broadband access and can't buy the game digitally and have it preloaded then unlocked, and C: You live in one of 20 cities with Amazon Prime Now, you can have Amazon deliver your game to you at midnight (or within 1-2 hours of it.)

http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/4/9671630/call-of-duty-black-ops-3-midnight-shipping-amazon-prime

This seems so useless and just reeks of a P.R. stunt without much practicality. I mean if you really want CoD 12 at launch, odds are you've either ordered digitally and loaded up, or you already found a retailer that will have a midnight opening. I find it hard to believe that the majority of people don't live near a Best Buy or a Gamestop or haven't ordered digitally.

Speaking of the new game, it requires a 2.7 - 3 GB Day one patch on modern consoles, 8 GB on older consoles. Since the older versions just have multiplayer, I have to believe that similar to Tony Hawk, Activision has shipped an incomplete game. I mean a DVD disc can only hold 8.5 GB, so this is basically like a whole other game's worth of data.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...day-one-patch-size-release-date-a6722376.html

Also I found out that my copy for the PS4 has shipped out, so that's pretty cool.

 

[king3pj]

If you desperately want to play the new Call of Duty at midnight and there's A: No Gamestop/Game Store with a midnight event, B: You don't have broadband access and can't buy the game digitally and have it preloaded then unlocked, and C: You live in one of 20 cities with Amazon Prime Now, you can have Amazon deliver your game to you at midnight (or within 1-2 hours of it.)

http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/4/9671630/call-of-duty-black-ops-3-midnight-shipping-amazon-prime

This seems so useless and just reeks of a P.R. stunt without much practicality. I mean if you really want CoD 12 at launch, odds are you've either ordered digitally and loaded up, or you already found a retailer that will have a midnight opening. I find it hard to believe that the majority of people don't live near a Best Buy or a Gamestop or haven't ordered digitally.

Speaking of the new game, it requires a 2.7 - 3 GB Day one patch on modern consoles, 8 GB on older consoles. Since the older versions just have multiplayer, I have to believe that similar to Tony Hawk, Activision has shipped an incomplete game. I mean a DVD disc can only hold 8.5 GB, so this is basically like a whole other game's worth of data.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...day-one-patch-size-release-date-a6722376.html

Also I found out that my copy for the PS4 has shipped out, so that's pretty cool.

Ahh I forgot that's tonight. Guess I should get my digital pre-order in so I can get the 18th version of the Nuketown multiplayer map and get my pre-load done.

 

[Poke]

Disney and ESPN channels are coming to PlayStation Vue

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/05/playstation-vue-disney-espn-channels/

For all the channels that PlayStation Vue gives you, there have been a few conspicuous gaps: without Disney or ESPN, you didn't have much in the way of kids' programming or sports. That gap is closing today. Disney has announced that all of its media networks are coming to Sony's streaming TV service, including local ABC stations, the Disney Channel and (of course) ESPN's many offerings. Importantly, this is a rare chance to watch live Disney streams on multiple devices -- you can watch sports on your iPad while your kids monopolize the TV. Disney hasn't said when its channels are showing up or whether you'll pay a premium to get them, but this is still big news if you've wanted to ditch cable or satellite without springing for a relatively barebones option like Sling TV.

 

[king3pj]

Maybe Sony is trying to convince me that I really don't want to spend money on Black Ops 3. I was already not sure I wanted to with Fallout 4 coming out next week.

I keep adding it to my cart but every time I hit the checkout button a message pops up saying I have encountered an unexpected error and the game removes itself from my cart. I can't even get far enough to try to confirm my payment info.

Strangely, I was able to "purchase" the free PS Plus games from the website even when this was happening. For some reason Sony really doesn't want me buying another COD game.

I will try again in a couple hours or do it from the console when I get home tonight.

Edit: I ended up just pre-ordering a download code from Amazon so I don't have to bother with it again. I actually have a bunch of store credit because that's how my fantasy baseball league did their payouts this year so it makes more sense to buy from Amazon anyways.

Only downside is that I don't immediately get access to my key. It looks like they aren't giving it to me until midnight tonight so I can't do a pre-load. Oh well, it's not like I was going to stay up until midnight tonight anyways. I'll just start the download before I leave for work tomorrow morning.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I just tried to get it and it seems to work. I didn't "Buy" it obviously, but it brought me to the final step of charging my card, which I was surprised to see that they still had on file because I thought I removed it. Luckily the card was expired, but I've removed it regardless. After all, Sony ain't running the most secure of operations out there. Maybe try another browser or something.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Fallout 4 launch trailer



Can't wait for 24 months from now when the GOTY edition goes on sale for $10 on Steam.

 

[king3pj]

Fallout 4 launch trailer



Can't wait for 24 months from now when the GOTY edition goes on sale for $10 on Steam.

I have avoided watching any Fallout 4 content since the Bethesda conference where the game was first shown off because I knew I wanted the game and I'd rather go in as fresh as possible. I did watch that trailer though and I gotta say I'm really excited for this game.

It has been very difficult for me to keep myself from just using the 20% off promo code on GMG and pre-ordering it for $48.00. The only reason I haven't done that is because I know I can get that price at any time and a better deal might come along before I finish Arkham Knight.

I don't mind showing patience for a lot of games and waiting a year or two for a bottom dollar price. There are certain games where that's not an option for me though. Fallout 4 is one of them and the new Mass Effect will be another when it comes out.

 

[Zookster]

Maybe Sony is trying to convince me that I really don't want to spend money on Black Ops 3. I was already not sure I wanted to with Fallout 4 coming out next week.

I keep adding it to my cart but every time I hit the checkout button a message pops up saying I have encountered an unexpected error and the game removes itself from my cart. I can't even get far enough to try to confirm my payment info.

Strangely, I was able to "purchase" the free PS Plus games from the website even when this was happening. For some reason Sony really doesn't want me buying another COD game.

I will try again in a couple hours or do it from the console when I get home tonight.

Edit: I ended up just pre-ordering a download code from Amazon so I don't have to bother with it again. I actually have a bunch of store credit because that's how my fantasy baseball league did their payouts this year so it makes more sense to buy from Amazon anyways.

Only downside is that I don't immediately get access to my key. It looks like they aren't giving it to me until midnight tonight so I can't do a pre-load. Oh well, it's not like I was going to stay up until midnight tonight anyways. I'll just start the download before I leave for work tomorrow morning.

Sony is reporting sporadic problems with funding PSN wallets from Paypal or credit cards over the past several months and are recommending if you have this problem to use PSN cards to fund your wallet... which everyone should still probably be doing anyway.

 

[Zookster]

Fallout 4 launch trailer



Can't wait for 24 months from now when the GOTY edition goes on sale for $10 on Steam.

That's how I feel. I get caught up in the media hype of a new game release like this and want it now. But I know for an RPG that will likely have story-related DLC, I'm better off waiting for the GOTY so I can play everything together rather than doing the DLC as a totally separate post-main-story experience, unless that's how it's designed. In many RPG games I've played, a lot of the DLC was better played as part of the main story. I actually replayed the entire Mass Effect trilogy (not complaining) so I could replay ME3 with all the DLC when it was intended to be played at specific points within the main story. (I had finally bought the DLC two years after release of the main game because it was on sale.) As much as I enjoyed that experience, I don't know if I can replay every game that way, especially RPGs that are already quite long.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Sony is reporting sporadic problems with funding PSN wallets from Paypal or credit cards over the past several months and are recommending if you have this problem to use PSN cards to fund your wallet... which everyone should still probably be doing anyway.

That's what I do. Same thing with Xbox Live, although with Live it gets annoying because for some stupid reason you can't buy stuff from the website unless you have a card. It could be a free game and you could have enough stored up money from cards, but it still won't go. Maybe they fixed it but as of about 9 months ago it was like this. Annoying to have to do the majority of my purchases at my console. I'd prefer to tell it to buy something and then have my One download it so it's done when I get home.

Speaking of Live downloading, has Microsoft removed all their fast servers from the 360 network and moved them to the One? I downloaded Catherine last night (yeah I decided to buy it) and it took about an hour to download a 4.6 GB file. That may not sound like much to complain about, but considering I have a 100mbps internet connection, this should have taken about 7 minutes. Even if there was a lot of congestion on the network and speeds got knocked down to half, it should have been less than 15 minutes. And this was with a wired connection, and even if it were wireless the router was about 4 feet away from the 360.

 

[Zookster]

That's what I do. Same thing with Xbox Live, although with Live it gets annoying because for some stupid reason you can't buy stuff from the website unless you have a card. It could be a free game and you could have enough stored up money from cards, but it still won't go. Maybe they fixed it but as of about 9 months ago it was like this. Annoying to have to do the majority of my purchases at my console. I'd prefer to tell it to buy something and then have my One download it so it's done when I get home.

Speaking of Live downloading, has Microsoft removed all their fast servers from the 360 network and moved them to the One? I downloaded Catherine last night (yeah I decided to buy it) and it took about an hour to download a 4.6 GB file. That may not sound like much to complain about, but considering I have a 100mbps internet connection, this should have taken about 7 minutes. Even if there was a lot of congestion on the network and speeds got knocked down to half, it should have been less than 15 minutes. And this was with a wired connection, and even if it were wireless the router was about 4 feet away from the 360.

I used to think funding my PSN wallet with Paypal was the way to go when that option was first offered. But about a year or so ago, someone at AVS had an issue where Sony had no record of a $50 transfer (Paypal to PSN) he had made. He was told by Sony that if he contested the transaction with Paypal, his PSN account would be locked down and unusable pending review, a process that could take months. I'm simplifying what happened, as I don't remember all the details, but that was the gist. He ended up eating the money he had lost.

 

[yourbeliefs]

That's another reason why I just use Cards. I've read numerous instances where accounts get hacked and purchases are made without consent on credit cards, and Sony won't always reverse the charges, but if you dispute them then your account gets locked down. At least if someone (god forbid) hacks my account there's no credit card on file for them to play with. And I only add funds when I want to get a game, so there's rarely more than $5 available for any sort of extended period.

 

[king3pj]

Sony is reporting sporadic problems with funding PSN wallets from Paypal or credit cards over the past several months and are recommending if you have this problem to use PSN cards to fund your wallet... which everyone should still probably be doing anyway.

That's what I do. Same thing with Xbox Live, although with Live it gets annoying because for some stupid reason you can't buy stuff from the website unless you have a card. It could be a free game and you could have enough stored up money from cards, but it still won't go. Maybe they fixed it but as of about 9 months ago it was like this. Annoying to have to do the majority of my purchases at my console. I'd prefer to tell it to buy something and then have my One download it so it's done when I get home.

Speaking of Live downloading, has Microsoft removed all their fast servers from the 360 network and moved them to the One? I downloaded Catherine last night (yeah I decided to buy it) and it took about an hour to download a 4.6 GB file. That may not sound like much to complain about, but considering I have a 100mbps internet connection, this should have taken about 7 minutes. Even if there was a lot of congestion on the network and speeds got knocked down to half, it should have been less than 15 minutes. And this was with a wired connection, and even if it were wireless the router was about 4 feet away from the 360.

That makes sense with all the data breaches that happen. It's kind of a hassle though. One of the benefits to digital purchases for me is that I don't have to go to the store. I just add the game to my cart, checkout, and I can immediately start downloading. I suppose I could buy them ahead of time or order store credit from places like Amazon but then I have to tie up money into these online marketplaces even before I actually want to buy something.

The other problem is that I buy games from Xbox Live, PSN, Steam, Origin, uPlay, Green Man Gaming, GOG, Amazon, Humble Bundle, etc.... My credit card is an accepted form of payment at all of them. It's so much easier to just charge my card for the exact amount of my purchase price than to try to go fund my wallet at all of those sites. That gets back to my first point of not wanting money tied up on all these sites before I'm actually ready to buy something too.

I have had credit card info stolen 3 times but ironically none of them had anything to do with my online shopping habits. One was the Target breach a couple years ago, One was the Home Depot breach, and the third was a shady employee at a hotel I stayed at in New Orleans.

Luckily, in all of these situations my bank took care of the problem quickly. They blocked the suspicious activity, shut off my card, and I received a new one in the mail about a week later. It was a hassle not having a card for a week and having to change my card info on every single website I use. Still I'll take my chances with online shopping over having to buy gift cards first every time I want to buy a game.

 

[Zookster]

That makes sense with all the data breaches that happen. It's kind of a hassle though. One of the benefits to digital purchases for me is that I don't have to go to the store. I just add the game to my cart, checkout, and I can immediately start downloading. I suppose I could buy them ahead of time or order store credit from places like Amazon but then I have to tie up money into these online marketplaces even before I actually want to buy something.

The other problem is that I buy games from Xbox Live, PSN, Steam, Origin, uPlay, Green Man Gaming, GOG, Amazon, Humble Bundle, etc.... My credit card is an accepted form of payment at all of them. It's so much easier to just charge my card for the exact amount of my purchase price than to try to go fund my wallet at all of those sites. That gets back to my first point of not wanting money tied up on all these sites before I'm actually ready to buy something too.

I have had credit card info stolen 3 times but ironically none of them had anything to do with my online shopping habits. One was the Target breach a couple years ago, One was the Home Depot breach, and the third was a shady employee at a hotel I stayed at in New Orleans.

Luckily, in all of these situations my bank took care of the problem quickly. They blocked the suspicious activity, shut off my card, and I received a new one in the mail about a week later. It was a hassle not having a card for a week and having to change my card info on every single website I use. Still I'll take my chances with online shopping over having to buy gift cards first every time I want to buy a game.

If you plan to buy that much digitally on the PSN, it might be worth getting a Sony PSN Rewards VISA card. You earn 10x points on all PSN purchases...assuming you qualify, of course.