Bethesda is scheduled to hold its first-ever E3 showcase, although it appears we were going to hear more than just additional information on Fallout 4 and Doom. Dishonored fans should pay close attention to tomorrow’s showcase as Bethesda is expected to reveal its upcoming sequel.
The leak comes from Bethesda itself as a microphone was accidentally set live to Bethesda’s Twitch channel, which picked up a discussion about Dishonored 2 being presented during tomorrow’s showcase. The conversation doesn’t include any concrete evidence that outright say Dishonored 2 will be shown tomorrow, but based on what can be heard, the words “Dishonored” and “Harvey” seem to be what was picked up.
Harvey Smith was the co-director of Dishonored and appears to be making a presentation during Bethesda’s showcase tomorrow evening. Smith moved to France following the release of Dishonored back in 2012 to work on a follow-up with Arkane Studios.
To play devil’s advocate, the word “Dishonored” doesn’t necessarily mean we’re getting a sequel this year as it could have been mentioned to remind us what Smith previously worked on. But at the same time, nearly three years seems like an appropriate amount of time for Bethesda to begin discussing its sequel, considering how popular the title was when it released.
Don't forget a possible leak for Dishonored: Definitive Edition popped up last month, although we doubt Bethesda would announce something like that during its big E3 presentation. That seems something more appropriate to be sent out in a press release some time after the show has come and gone.
Nintendo is set to make a major announcement regarding Super Smash Bros. tomorrow morning, but it appears some eagle-eyed fans of the series have discovered Street Fighter’s Ryu and Fire Emblem’s Roy will be making an appearance in both the Wii U and 3DS versions of Nintendo’s popular fighting series.
The leak comes from data miners exploiting the Japanese update for both games that was released earlier than they were supposed to. In addition to Ryu and Roy, a number of other assets were discovered including a Splatoon trophy, some new stages like DreamLand 64, and Mii costumes from the Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Mega Man, and Animal Crossing series. Ryu’s stage from Street Fighter II was also discovered.
This isn’t the first leak Nintendo has faced prior to its E3 Digital Showcase as the 3DS version of Hyrule Warrios was also leaked by Koei Tecmo earlier this week. The leak came by way of a YouTube video on Koei Tecmo’s official YouTube channel showcasing Hyrule Warriors on the 3DS, although it was taken down shortly after. These are two substantial surprises Nintendo had up its sleeve entering E3 2015, although it doesn’t deter us from being excited about these two pieces of news. We look forward to see what else the company has up its sleeves, that is, unless everything gets leaked prior to their showcase.
Next week is a big week for console makers, as E3 2015 promises to feature a number of huge announcements. As for games that are already out in the wild, each of the big three are coming with some major sales. Xbox has the EA Sports catalog ready to roll, while PlayStation is offering games from Bethesda and Square Enix. Meanwhile, Nintendo is continuing to drum up a few notable sales for its recent indie offerings like OlliOlli and UnEpic. It's a big weekend all around, so be sure to check out the deals below.
Here's our selection of this weekend's console deals:
Xbox One
The following games are a part of Xbox One Games with Gold/Deals with Gold. An Xbox Live Gold Subscription is required to receive these discounts.
Every year, the Electronic Entertainment Expo gets us all salivating over the biggest and best games about to be released. E3 is nearly upon us, and in this week's Top 10, Greg explores the games we can't wait to get our hands on next week.
It's the weekend before E3 and for this year, that means summer sales are in full swing. Amazon and GOG.com are still having their big summer blowouts, but they've merely paved the way for the monolith known as Steam. Check out the entire list of deals across all the major digital retailers below.
This is just a small sampling of what's available as part of Amazon's Summer Sale. Be sure to check out the full list of games on sale here.
Bundle Stars
Pay $19.99 for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its 18 DLC packs. These activate on Steam.
Or pay $16.99 for four copies of Gauntlet and its Lilith the Necromancer DLC. These activate on Steam.
Or pay $4.99 for F.E.A.R. (w/Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate DLC packs), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (w/Reborn DLC), and F.E.A.R. 3. These activate on Steam.
GOG.com is in the middle of their 2015 DRM-Free Summer Sale. New deals are being offered twice a day with new bundles offered daily. Check out the full list of sales on GOG.com.
Green Man Gaming
Use the code GRAB25-PERCNT-OFFNOW to save 25% off your purchase. Some restrictions apply.
Pay what you want for World of Goo, Super Meat Boy, and Dustforce DX. Pay more than the average $4.90 to get Dungeon Defenders Collection, LIMBO, and Braid. Pay more than the average with an extra dollar to also get Risk of Rain and Antichamber. All games work on Steam and Steam keys are available with a $1 minimum.
Or pay what you want for Nam, F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0, Command HQ, and Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold Plus (Classic). Pay $5 or more to also get Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic), Darklands, Sid Meier's Covert Action (Classic), and Sword of the Samurai. All games work on Steam and Steam keys are available with a $1 minimum.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth + Soundtrack [Steam] (Friday only - $8.99 (50% off)
That's just the beginning from Steam's Summer Sale. New Flash Sales are being offered every 12 hours and new daily deals are going up every day. With the list of deals constantly being refreshed, be sure to check for the full list of the day's sales over on Steam.
Weekend PC download deals: Pre-E3 weekend and the Steam Summer Sale
With mere days to go before E3 starts in earnest, the crew takes a moment from packing its bags to chat about what they expect to see out of the event. And since we industry types need a studious straight man, we bring back Dr. Games as our sounding board. All that and Chatty members attempting to get us to break embargoes are just a listen away.
As always, thank to everyone who provide topics this week: Amusatron, and Hemtroll. If you want see your name in lights, keep an eye on Chatty to suggest topics! And, special thanks to Chatty user dael for contributing music to the show, and to Bryan "Doctor Games" Carr for production assistance.
I want you guys each to make two predictions on the 'Cast about what E3 will reveal that hasn't been announced so far. The first prediction will be based on all the information you've already got to work with and are fairly certain will come to pass. The second prediction is your longshot, the thing you're really, really hoping will happen but have no definitive information to indicate that it will.
Games like Assassin's Creed, The Witcher and Shadow of Mordor have you play a master swordsman regularly fighting a dozen enemies at a time but it doesn't always work as well as you'd want it to. What is the most enjoyable 1-vs-many sword fighting system you've seen in a game?
Oculus VR not only revealed the final consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset yesterday at its pre-E3 2015 press conference, but it also included a fair number of surprises. One of the most stunning (though some might call it disappointing) revelations is the partnership between Oculus and Microsoft. This deal means that Windows 10 will feature native Oculus Rift support, taking full advantage of DirectX 12, and the headset will ship with an Xbox One controller. Furthermore, games streamed from an Xbox One to a Windows 10 PC can use the Oculus Rift as a display for a unique experience. A demo of this functionality had a young girl playing Forza 6 using an Oculus headset, which had her inside of a virtual movie theater, so she was playing a game on a massive screen.
The virtual movie theater is super gimmicky, but it could prove to be an practical solution for those who don't have the money or the space for giant sized TV or projector setup. But, given the fact that Xbox One streaming is a feature built into Windows 10, chances are you won't necessarily need an Oculus Rift to get the same experience. You could probably use an HTC Vive, which deflates all the air from a demo that didn't have all that much to start with.
As for the Xbox One controller, it was clearly a setup for the games program, which includes titles like Edge of Nowhere and others built from the ground up to support the Oculus Rift. Additionally, it set the stage for the far more impressive Oculus Touch reveal at the end of the presentation. Although some might be disappointed that the plain Xbox One gamepad is the official controller to ship with the device, it makes sense that it would be. As stated in the presentation, it's a controller that most people are familiar with. Therefore, when you dive into these made-for-Oculus games, you can focus on the games instead of learning all-new controls.
For those that absolutely must have the Oculus Touch experience, who is to say that there won't be a premium bundle that includes it when the device ships in 2016? Not to mention, just because it ships with the controller, doesn't mean you have to use it. If you completely hate the Xbox One controller for whatever reason, you're free to use a different one, or use Lighthouse, which is not exclusive to the HTC Vive.
Furthermore, the controller ties back into the Xbox One streaming functionality. Remember, at the end of the day, all games that we know of that are releasing for the Xbox One are meant for a 2D screen. So, it makes sense to have a relevant controller to go with it. Xbox head Phil Spencer said that this was the start of a new kind of cinematic experience, which probably means doubling down on the virtual movie theater gimmick. Although this contradictory to the opening statement, where a clear line was drawn between a movie experience and a immersive virtual reality experience, but we might be able to let that go until more VR movies start releasing.
The bottom line is, those who remain fixated on the controller and the silly little virtual theater presentation could be missing the bigger picture: The Xbox One might have a VR headset.
It might be hard to gather, given the unimpressive nature of the partnership announcement, but as part of the unified vision between Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One, porting software between the two systems should be relatively easy. That might go for hardware too. What is the Xbox One if not a computer that is specially built to play games and deliver entertainment? Sony has Morpheus, which will be limited to use on the PlayStation 4. Up until yesterday, Microsoft's big show was the HoloLens, which relies on augmented reality, and won't offer the same sense of presence and immersion as a virtual reality headset. By partnering with Oculus, Microsoft can have it both ways: its own augmented reality headset, and a VR headset if the former doesn't catch on. All without having to invest in developing virtual reality technology on its own.
Maybe we can look forward to an Xbox branded VR headset, powered by Oculus, somewhere down the road. One that will plug directly into the Xbox One and use the Kinect as its controller. That's when we'll see more exciting announcements like a Forza or Halo VR Edition.
However, a headset that can be switch back and forth between a Windows 10 PC and Xbox One would be the a truly remarkable development. It could be the key to tip things in Oculus's favor when it comes to owners of both systems. Those who enjoy both console and PC gaming won't have to purchase two headsets.
That long term solution would be absolutely brilliant.
The Oculus and Microsoft Partnership: A Silly Start to a Brilliant Relationship
