Lionhead Studios Is No More

I think we all saw this coming. A little over a month ago, I detailed an article about the cancellation of Fable Legends and the uncertain fate of its developer and creator of the Fable franchise, Lionhead Studios. On March 7th, Microsoft declared that they would enter into a six week period mandated by British law to discuss the “proposed closure” of Lionhead Studios. This gives the employees time to consider their options if the company shutters its doors.

Unfortunately, that time has arrived and Microsoft has made it official: Lionhead Studios will cease to exist. In an article from Kotaku,  a Microsoft representative noted that “We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry.” Obviously official corporate jargon, the representative does make a point. Fable made a significant impact with the original Xbox community and spawned the relatively well received Fable trilogy along with the unimpressive Fable: The Journey and an HD remake of the original Fable.

Lionhead’s work extends beyond just the Fable franchise. Creators of the intriguing Black and White series that let players become the god of their realm and the less well known title called The Movies, Microsoft’s representative doesn’t do Lionhead’s memory justice. While all studios have setbacks, make poor decisions, and sometimes disappoint their fans, every game leaves an impression upon us and the society of gaming. I will forever remember my first experience with Fable and playing it countless times to experience both the extreme good and horrid evil an individual could embody. While each game beyond the first didn’t have the same “magic” of my first Fable experience, they still left their mark and inspired me to play more RPGs and incorporate more choices and consequences in my own Pathfinder campaigns. After Fable, I became readily aware of the decisions I made in every game. Do you remember the original tagline of the first game? It feels all the more poignant now…

“For every choice, a consequence.”

Rest in peace, Lionhead. We at Skatronixxx wish your former employees the best of luck.

-Valiant

One Week Until Time Shatters

Be honest with me.

If you had the ability to manipulate time, what would you do? Would you go back and alter some minor and utterly insignificant event that plagues you to this day? Would you pull an Albert Einstein from the Command and Conquer universe and use your chronosphere to kill Hitler? Or perhaps you would choose to go forward in time and see exactly what our future holds. Whatever your decision, you must realize one incredible and undeniable fact:

Playing with time is a dangerous thing.

Set to release on April 5th, 2016, Remedy Entertainment‘s newest game titled Quantum Break is a third-person shooter exclusive to the Xbox One and the PC. Set in a world where time does not follow the same linear flow as ours, players take on the persona of Jack Joyce (played by Shawn Ashmore of X-Men fame) as he diligently fights against the machinations of his equally gifted antagonist, Paul Serene (played by Aidan Gillen of Shanghai Knights and The Dark Knight Rises). Loaded with even more star-studded talent such as the phenomenal Lance Reddick and the equally talented Dominic Monaghan, Microsoft has spared no expense in generating hype for their latest exclusive. Rumored to be the spiritual successor to the third-person thriller title Alan Wake, Quantum Break not only rhymes with it but shares similar elements with its distant cousin, most notably Remedy’s careful attention to detail and their graphical fidelity.

The story of Quantum Break seems somewhat vague. It follows the story of Jack Joyce in his search for revenge against Paul Serene. Serene executed William Joyce in cold blood, but William apparently had the ability to “end time” as a trailer stated and with his death, time has shattered and both Jack and Paul have intriguing abilities. For example, Jack can stop time, reverse the direction of bullets, and even warp across a sizable distance to initiate a powerful melee take-down on an opponent. On the other hand, Paul does not have any of the flashy and powerful abilities of Jack, yet he has a gift that could turn the entire world in his favor: the ability to predict the future. Another protagonist by the name of Beth Wilder (played by the awesome Courtney Hope!) may also have such abilities and both Joyce and Wilder must escape from Serene’s corporation known as “Monarch Solutions.” Quantum Break understandably escalates and I can only imagine that the destruction as well as the utter endangerment of the space-time continuum progressively worsens as the player completes the campaign.

Armed soldier versus Iceman? I think we know who wins.

Intriguingly, Remedy Entertainment plans on making their newest title into a two part experience; combining the aspects of video games and television, Quantum Break will deliver gamers both a traditional video game and a linked series of short episodes as he or she progresses through the story. While playing the game, he or she will step into the role of Jack Joyce, but when the story reaches a certain point and it switches over to the television short, players will see the story from Paul Serene’s side and may make a “prediction” using Serene’s ability in order to change events in the video game. If it all sounds a little complex, don’t worry. You’re not alone. While I love the idea of incorporating two different mediums within a video game, Remedy must understand the risk this poses to destroying the immersion factor of Quantum Break. Simply put, it could work spectacularly or fail miserably. Thankfully, both producer and developer have enlisted the help of an incredible cast as well as worked with scientists at CERN to make the time manipulation theoretically relevant and the script believable. Hopefully Quantum Break can deliver on all of the hype!

Even with the incredible hype machine blasting at full volume, Remedy has not forgotten about another form of entertainment that currently prevails in gaming culture: Let’s Plays. A recent article by engadget noted that the developers have added a feature that allows YouTubers and Twitch streamers to completely disable licensed music playback in order to avoid copyright notifications. A surprisingly unheard of gesture in the AAA video game realm, it appears as though the company recognizes the popularity of major YouTubers and their ability to unintentionally boost the sales of games. Timothy Seppala, the author of this article, does warn players that Sam Lake (the creative director) specifically chose music for each section of the game and that disabling the licensed track could diminish the overall experience of Quantum Break. That’s something to keep in mind!

Stay tuned for my eventual review of Quantum Break!

Happy gaming! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

Sony Interested, Vague About Cross-Platform Play

About a week ago, my lovely partner in crime auburn.geek reported on a very intriguing and potentially ground breaking article about how Microsoft wants to extend cross-platform play with Rocket League. Though not explicitly stating that they wanted to link up with Sony’s PSN or Nintendo’s own online network, Microsoft implied that such a possibility was not completely unfounded and that we could see such cross-platform functionality in the future. Now, while gamers have had some connection between consoles and PC games, never before have Xbox or Playstation owners been able to compete or cooperate with one another. As auburn.geek said, it’s very exciting!

Once again, GameSpot offered a report on Sony’s response to Microsoft’s invitation. Sony’s message is as follows:

“PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002…We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross platform play.”

I used to play Final Fantasy 11 back in the day! It astounded me that I could run with my friends who had it on PC while I played on PS2. To think that an idea like that could potentially offer vast connection with an utterly massive base of gamers…wow! Really, Sony’s response seems positive but incredibly vague. No hard details have surfaced and neither company has officially extended a hand to one another in order to initiate such a cooperative venture, but the fact that the interest exists means a great deal for the gaming world.

Could you imagine playing some of your favorite games regardless of what console you purchased? To think that my PlayStation friends who own Destiny could play with my Xbox friends, or my Xbox friends who purchased The Division could run around and engage in shenanigans with me on my PC makes me absolutely excited for what the future could hold! *Takes a deep breath* We still must remember that none of this remains confirmed, neither company has taken action, and the outcome of such a monumental decision escapes prediction. Let’s hope this goes well and we see nothing but positive results.

Happy gaming! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

Microsoft Wants To Extend Cross- Platform Functionality

Interesting bit of news people!

Microsoft has enabled Xbox One’s cross platform functionality to Rocket League’s PC version and they wish to see more platforms connecting. Microsoft has announced that opening Xbox Live to PC games is also “an open invitation for other networks to participate as well.” Now both Xbox One and Playstation 4 have opened a channel with PC online players, will they connect with each other in the future? I first saw this news on Gamespot.com and I got quite exited, so I wanted to share this with all of you. There is no guarantee that this idea will be actualized, but at least this is the first move towards a world where console gamers could play more freely with each other. This would open a lot of neat possibilities in the gaming industry and in the gamer community. I for one would love to play The Elder Scrolls online with friends who have it on a different platform.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Fable Legends Cancelled!

Oh snap!

In a recent news update from Microsoft Studios Europe GM Hanno Lemke, Microsoft has decided to cancel the development of the next iteration in the Fable series. Reported to have a potentially interesting online component similar to Dungeons & Dragons Sword Coast, wherein four players could explore a dungeon with a fifth player controlling the encounters and creatures, it appears as though we will never see Fable Legends.

In addition to this very sudden and incredibly unexpected news (considering how Fable has been a treasured series native to the Xbox), it appears as though Lionhead Studios may also close its doors permanently. Though not confirmed, Microsoft executives have opened a dialogue with Lionhead employees. Only time will tell whether Microsoft will shutter Peter Molyneux’s former studio.

While we have no information as to whether or not the Fable franchise will disappear entirely, this would not be the first time a video game has been cancelled and its developers disbanded. Perhaps Microsoft will retain the IP and entrust another studio with its work. Who knows! I certainly hope they follow that route as I have always enjoyed the Fable series and would love to have a cooperative adventure like the one promised in Legends.

Stay tuned for more updates.

-Valiant

The Division – What Does the Future Hold?

With less than 24 hours left for Ubisoft’s premiere demi-MMO, The Division promises players many things. Thought long dead and now raised from the ashes, The Division’s two betas showed incredible promise. Yet as I mentioned in my article “The Division – Two Weeks Until Apocalypse”, I had my worries concerning this game’s potential lack of content. 600 hours into Destiny, all I could think about was the immense potential such a game had and utterly squandered. We, the gamers, did not deserve such a fate.

While The Division’s Dark Zones have an impeccable flair and dynamic, my associates and I could not see ourselves constantly throwing ourselves into these PvP areas without a goal beyond simply acquiring loot. Logic holds that eventually you would find exactly what you needed and could not gain anything more. So what then?

Ubisoft recently addressed such issues in their “Ubiblog” and released a trailer detailing some of the post launch content available to Division players. Ubisoft promised that the first two updates of the game will be free to all players; April will see the first called “Incursions” which adds difficult squad-based content and a promise of powerful loot and loot trading (oh thank goodness), and in May, the second called “Conflict” releases which adds more to the Dark Zone and another Incursion to New York’s Columbus Circle.

Well, fancy that. It’s nice to see that Ubisoft seems to want to keep The Division alive with relatively frequent updates, much like how popular companies such as Blizzard add periodic updates to their MMOs.

Beyond these free updates, users will have to purchase the Season Pass to gain access to The Division’s expansions. I haven’t seen any price listed for the pass yet, but those who purchased the Gold or Collectors editions of the game will have that included. Here are the other updates and a little preview of what Ubisoft promises to deliver:

The first two are free!

Underground: Slated for a June release, players will have the opportunity to roam around Manhattan’s winding and massive subway system to eliminate a growing threat.

Survival: Expect this one in the “summer”. This looks like high level Dark Zone content as the trailer asks players whether he or she will be able to secure enough resources and escape or will he or she turn rogue. Interesting…

Last Stand: The third expansion set for the winter, this looks like a defensive horde mode mission where you can set up turrets and defenses to hold the line against waves of enemies.

You can watch the trailer here!

Personally, I remain cautiously optimistic about all of this. I want The Division to become this spectacular game it constantly promises me. Hopefully, Ubisoft can deliver and we will see some impressive content in the near future.

The Division releases March 8th for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and the PC. See you all there!

Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant