It’s interesting how well-received that Game of Thrones is in print and on TV but the ASOIAF/GOT franchise has never been well-received in the gaming world. Unfortunately for Telltale Games, so far, the critics have said the same about their take on a Game of Thrones game.
Telltale’s Game of Thrones series came to an end with the sixth episode. Perhaps the extra length beyond the standard Telltale fare was unnecessary. The series had been good but not the greatness that we were used to from Telltale. Unfortunately, Episode Six: The Ice Dragon did nothing to change that perception.
What does the honest trailer for the last surviving game in a near-dead drama look like? Even the folks on Reddit are willing to admit that the Honest Trailer for StarCraft II is both funny and sad because it’s true. Watch as the trailer takes you from the campaign to the multiplayer dominated by David Kim to the competitive scene that is even farther beyond your skills. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.
Last week, someone pointed out to me that we’re under a month to the premiere of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Putting the biggest movie franchise in the world in the hands of one of the hottest sci-fi directors who happens to be a noted Star Wars fan has The Force Awakens expected to be one of the biggest movies of all-time. Analysts are expecting Episode VII to top a $1 billion gross, a half-billion dollar opening weekend and maybe even beat $2 billion at the box office.
For more on the money made by Star Wars and the money spent to make that money, we have a handy infographic for your perusal.
As I am wont to do to start a new week, Monday ends with a roundup of all the noteworthy trailers from the past seven days. I say noteworthy because there were some DLC and “accolades” trailers that I left out here. I don’t understand the accolades ones especially. There was one for AC Syndicate but how can anyone say with a straight face that it’s the best one in ages when its aggregated review score is about 10 points less than AC4 from two years ago?
Anyway, this week’s roundup has nine trailers for four games. It’s mostly indie releases in the roundup this week with Just Cause 3 as the triple-A representative this week, including their 4K trailer. I asked Square Enix for details on what was needed to run Just Cause 3 in 4K at max settings. I’m still waiting on an answer but I would guess that it’s more power than most could afford.
What happens when the inevitable happens when you least expect it? I think that was what Steven Moffat was going for in putting together this season. He mixed that in with another of his favourite tropes this week when The Doctor’s past actions came back on him in a way he didn’t expect. This week’s episode was a memorable one but I’m not sure that I’d call it any good until the final ten minutes.
In their infinite wisdom, Comcast is going to artificially limit a limitless resource. They’re implementing broadband bandwidth caps on customers. Living in Canada, I’m unfortunately familiar with that (along with lower speed, lower caps than Comcast is giving and higher prices). The biggest problem is that other companies might take Comcast up on this idea. [BGR]
Sony is working on bringing PS2 emulation to the PS4. It may have even started with the Star Wars classics pack that came with the Battlefront PS4 bundle. [Wired]
Yahtzee says what we’re all thinking: AAA games are just paint-by-numbers now. Hell, there was an element of that in today’s LOTV review. [Escapist]
YouTube says they’re going to be a bit friendlier to media creators when it comes to DMCA claims. Now about ContentID… [Kotaku]
I think I understand why the porn industry is interested in sponsoring eSports teams. One leading website (who I’m not naming solely to not further harm our Google page rank) saw their traffic tank last Tuesday when SC2: Legacy of the Void, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Fallout 4. [Venture Beat]
After five years, the story of StarCraft II comes to a conclusion in its second expansion. In the great tradition of the franchise that first launched in 1998, StarCraft II played out in three parts, each focusing on one of StarCraft’s three races. The third and final part of SC2, Legacy of the Void, not only focuses on the Protoss as they try to take back their homeworld but also includes an epilogue to wrap up the series’ story.
It’s a quiet weekend in the world of eSports. There isn’t a lot happening outside of group stages in team leagues but you can certainly find some of that happening if you do some digging. Dota 2 takes the lion’s share of the attention with the conclusion of the first Dota 2 major, The Frankfurt Major. Friday sees the tournament go from five to three teams and Saturday sees the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final to crown the first Dota 2 major champion.
Blizzard has a little eSports action themselves. BaseTradeTV is hosting a one-day SC2 TVT tournament on Saturday. Over in Hearthstone, the Collegiate Hearthstone Championship wraps up on Sunday.
While I get a lot of my games from Steam, if I was to tabulate where I get my games, Green Man Gaming would probably be number two on the list. That doesn’t mean that Green Man Gaming has a good reputation in the gaming world. Ever since CD Projekt said that they hadn’t sold any The Witcher 3 game keys to GMG, the site has come under fire for the alleged sale of grey market keys.
Following a second flare up of this grey market controversy, GMG is getting reactive about the information it’s including on its website. In a statement, Green Man Gaming announced that they will now tell you when you’re getting a game key and where that key’s coming from.
When one of the most powerful women in gaming made the jump from Ubisoft to EA, you had to wonder what her next big project would be. Thanks to EA’s Chief Financial Officer, we now know what Jade Raymond has been up to since forming the new studio Motive for Electronic Arts. Blake Jorgensen told a conference that Raymond was working on a new open-world action game for the gaming powerhouse.
et geekera 