It seems like E3 is visiting us a little early this year by some of the news we’ve been receiving the past few days. If you feel like you’ve missed something though don’t worry, because there’s plenty of tea to spill. Here’s your Tea for June 14, 2015:
1. After constant speculation and rumors floating around for years now, Fallout 4 has finally been officially announced! Information is scarce at the moment, but the publisher, Bethesda Studios, announced that the game is currently in production for PS4, Xbox One, and PC- sorry last gen users this one won’t be coming out for PS3 or Xbox 360. You can see the first trailer right here:
Fans were quick to determine that the game will take place in Boston by the various locations and landmarks shown off in the trailer, and the game’s project will be led by Tom Howard. Howard worked on previous Bethesda titles such as Fallout 3, and the three most recent Elder Scroll’s games (Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim). The trailer also indicates that a loveable K-9 companion may also be in our futures again to explore the daring post-apocalyptic world. Bethesda is holding their first ever E3 conference this Sunday June 14th at 7PM eastern time, so expect more information at their panel. You can catch their conference live on YouTube, Twitch, or various other places on the web for yourself.
2. If you’re looking for something a little bit more visually enticing and narrative oriented, then you should check out Starfighter: Eclipse. Developed by NightmareLand Games,Starfighter: Eclipse is an interactive erotic sci-fi visual novel based on Hamlet Machine’s webcomic, Starfighter. The game extends the cannon of the comic’s universe and is a nice treat for the fans of the web series.
You play as Helios, the newest recruit on the starship Kepler, as you attempt to solve a mystery after investigating an abandoned alien spaceship. But when you return from your mission something goes amiss on the Kepler, and it’s your job to figure it all out just what’s going on. The game encourages players to make a wide array of decisions to help guide where the story should go next, some which result in your character dying.
But it’s not all life or death choices in this space drama, in fact there are some rather steamy choices to be made…oh and did I forget mention that Helios and multiple other members of the Kepler are gay? Meaning there are multiple opportunities for romantic encounters and chances to flirt with characters of the same sex. The characters feel fleshed out and have their own personalities, identities, and motives, so the game works hard to avoid letting the characters be reduced as simple stereotypes. On top of that the art style is simple yet elegant with the shading of greys and subtle light blues to keep you immersed in the story.
The game is also browser based and saves to your own personal cloud, which means you can log onto the game’s website and pick up wherever you left off. Since there so many possible outcomes the game has a solid amount of replayability, with multiple scenarios going in many different directions.
The game currently costs $20 to play and is intended for an adult audience. You can check out the game for yourself right here:
https://datenighto.com/game/starfighter-eclipse#
3. E3 isn’t until tomorrow, but that didn’t stop some companies from having an early conference this year. On Wednesday Oculus Rift had its briefing showing off some of the advancements made towards the virtual reality system. A couple cool surprises were announced at the presentation, including that the Rift headset will ship with an Xbox One controller in order to play games on PC.
Head of Xbox, Phil Spenser, then came out to further explain how this partnership between Microsoft and Oculus would be beneficial towards both parties. Spenser stated that “the Rift will work natively with Windows 10”. This means with the launch of the Windows 10 operating system gamers will not only be able to stream games from Xbox Ones to PCs, but now players will be able to utilize the technology of the Oculus Rift headset in order to play Xbox One games on the headset itself. Sounds totally cool right? It should be noted that this doesn’t alter Xbox games to become actual VR, but rather adds to create a more “immersive” experience.
The second big surprise was when Palmer Luckey (the creator of the Oculus Rift) came to the stage to unveil a set of two peripheral wireless controllers called the “Oculus Touch”. These two controllers are designed specifically for the Oculus to give an immersive experience which will allow people to interact with a virtual world with their hands. We did not get to see the controllers in action yet, but Luckey did promise to show off what they can do with the Oculus’s Toybox demo next week at E3.
The Oculus Rift headset is planned to be released in the first quarter of 2016, but not specific date or price point has been announced yet.
4. Although Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End won’t be out until next year, it seems that Sony isn’t going to leave us high and dry until then. Last week there was an apparent “leak” when PSP Vita owners were able to view something on their version of the PlayStation Store titled Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. Shortly after Naughty Dog's creative director, Neil Druckmann, sent out a tweet to confirm that this Uncharted collection is legitimate.
The Nathan Drake Collection will contain all three PS3 exclusive Uncharted titles: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The games are being remastered by Bluepoint Games, and will run in 1080p and at 60 fps; the games are being redone with "better lighting, textures, and models". Unfortunately each game will only have the single player campaigns, but I'm sure fans won't mind too much. Players who purchase the collection will also be granted access to Uncharted 4's multiplayer beta.
The Uncharted series is one of Sony's most popular franchises, so it more of a "when" rather than an "if" the series would be ported now to current gen. A recent PlayStation Blog post wrote:
“Since the launch of the PS4, we’ve seen plenty of requests across our Twitter, Facebook, and message boards all over the internet for the first three games in the Uncharted series, which have managed to sell an amazing 21+ million copies and garner an average 92 Metacritic rating, to receive a remastered release.”
The game will be released October 9th in the US, while Ireland and UK will receive the game on October 7th for the PlayStation 4. You can see the game's official trailer below:
5. On Tuesday Microsoft announced that it would begin shipping Xbox Ones with 1 TB hard drives on June 16th for $400 in the US along with other “select markets”. The larger storage systems are now being redone with a new matte finish and will include a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The systems will also come with an updated version of the Xbox One controller, which has a few subtle yet interesting alterations.
One of the biggest changes to the controller will be the addition of a 3.5 mm stereo port so you can plug in more standard headsets of your choice (like a Turtle Beach headset). The controllers’ bumpers have also been retuned for a more comfortable feeling and better performance. Finally the controllers no longer will need to be plugged into your system directly for firmware updates, and instead will be able to manage updates wirelessly. These new controllers will also be available for purchase separately, and a new silver and black camouflage controller model will be released as well.
The company also announced that a wireless adapter will be coming in the fall, allowing gamers to connect their Xbox One controllers to any Windows 10 PC or tablet for $24.99; you will also be able to get the wireless adapter bundled with the controller for $79.95.
Finally, the current 500 GB Xbox One models will permanently remain at the same price they have been for the past few months at $349.
That’s your Tea for this week, but keep a look out for a very special E3 edition of The Tea coming sometime after the event wraps up. E3 is the largest videogame conference that happens in LA every year, and is the videogaming equivalents of New York’s Fashion week- think less models but just as much drama. Unfortunately the event is not open to the public, but I’m sure between all the press conferences there will be plenty of tea to spill. Until then guys have a fabulous E3!
