Out This Week: November 11, 2013

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AppId is over the quota

With so many new games and movies coming out, it can be hard to keep up. Lucky for you, IGN is here to help with a weekly round-up of the biggest releases each and every week. Check out the latest releases for this week, and be sure to come back next Monday for a new update.

Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.

Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

From our Review: The DuckTales cartoons might not be hot anymore, but DuckTales: Remastered is, in most ways, as good as Capcom’s legendary NES platformer ever was.

Note: DuckTales: Remastered first went on sale as a downloadable title a few months ago. This week, it's the physical disc versions that are launching across PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.

Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

From our Review: Action-packed, briskly-paced and featuring a stellar cast, Man of Steel is the best Superman film since the 1978 original and proves DC can match Marvel in the massive scale department. While it could have used a bit more levity, Man of Steel is nevertheless director Zack Snyder's best film to date.

Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

From our Preview: First and foremost, Firaxis is addressing a couple of XCOM fans' most vocal complaints: you'll now be able to have French soldiers speaking French (among others, courtesy of allowing us to access localized voice files), and we'll see around 40 additional maps combined with Enemy Unknown's 80. That number will include UFO crash maps in urban and rural environments, instead of just forest. Will there be an XCOM base-defense mission? Firaxis didn't say no... which means almost certainly yes.

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus

Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

From our Preview: Into the Nexus begins with Ratchet and Clank transporting twin villains Vendra and Neftin Prog to a location known as the Vartax Detention Center. This voyage brings our favorite lombax-and-robot duo to haunted space, however, and while in the process of bringing his foes to lock-up, they escape Ratchet’s grasp. This leaves Ratchet and Clank alone and stranded in the scariest sector of space they’ve ever visited.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Next-Gen Version

Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 (PS4) or Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (Xbox One)

From our Review: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a smart, sprawling sequel that wisely places an emphasis on freedom and fun while trimming most of the fat that bogged down Assassin’s Creed III’s ambitious but uneven adventure. Ubisoft’s take on the Golden Age of Piracy begins in 1715, and is presented with a much-appreciated lighter tone that isn’t afraid to make fun of itself in the name of an entertaining journey.

Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

Release Date: Friday, November 15, 2013

From our Review: I still feel like I’m watching fan fiction scribbled in the back of my old elementary school notebook come to life every time I see Mario and Sonic running amok together, but the unlikely duo’s biannual Olympic series never really plays out the way I'd pictured it. This year's Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games makes excellent use of Wii U’s online capabilities and is overflowing with unlockable fan service, but yet again, it fails to ditch the incessant, imprecise motion control that have been an unfortunate series staple.

Release Date: Friday, November 15, 2013

From our Preview: Yes, Killzone: Shadow Fall is still a first-person shooter, and yes, it’s as technically fine as its predecessors. But it’s the game’s fresh approach and its emphasis on strategy and patience that really makes it stand apart. Like PS Vita’s upcoming Killzone game called Mercenary, Shadow Fall is a deviation from the traditional formula, and it looks and feels new. Guerrilla Games may very well have something special on their hands, and as a Killzone skeptic turned could-be believer, I can’t wait to see and play more.

Release Date: Friday, November 15, 2013

From our Preview: Whether in the form of television shows, movies, or video games, we’re bombarded with media all the time from every conceivable angle. Sometimes, you have to filter through it all by making some cursory assumptions, and with Knack, the PlayStation 4-exclusive launch title from Sony-owned Studio Japan, it’s easy enough to dismiss the game outright. It looks kiddy, it looks simple, and above all else, it doesn’t look all that next-gen. It appears to be something that could easily be skipped over without a second thought.

The thing is, Knack is really, really fun.

Other Notable PlayStation 4 Launch Day Releases

The PlayStation 4's launch in North America is absolutely the biggest event happening this week (and arguably this month, or even this year), and while Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall will serve as the new console's Day 1 first-party exclusives, there are several more third-party games that will be available to bring home alongside your new system. Here's a quick rundown of some of your best bets from that bunch:

Our picks above are the most notable game and movie releases for this week, but if you look just a bit further into the future, you'll find plenty more gaming goodness coming along in the month ahead. Hit up these links in Pre-Order Corner to go ahead and put your money down on these surefire hits, scheduled to arrive within the next month:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – PC Version

Release Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2013

From our Review: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a smart, sprawling sequel that wisely places an emphasis on freedom and fun while trimming most of the fat that bogged down Assassin’s Creed III’s ambitious but uneven adventure. Ubisoft’s take on the Golden Age of Piracy begins in 1715, and is presented with a much-appreciated lighter tone that isn’t afraid to make fun of itself in the name of an entertaining journey.

Release Date: Friday, November 22, 2013

From our Preview: I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to play Forza Motorsport 5, a game which, along with Ryse, Microsoft is clearly pushing as its biggest Xbox One launch title. I'd seen the trailer at the May 21 reveal, and it didn't look real to me. It had a CG "sheen" to it that just didn't quite make me a believer (see the video at the bottom of the page). But laying my hands on the controller (more on that part specifically in just a moment) put a big fat Forza smile on my face.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Release Date: Friday, November 22, 2013

From our Preview: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the reason I'm sitting here right now. It was the game that made me care about video games, that showed me what they could offer beyond five minutes of fun. It was the first game that enveloped my mind and imagination, that transported me to a world like books did. Going back to that world is an intensely nostalgic experience for anyone of my generation, and actually it reminded me of the things that some of the 3D Zelda games lack when compared to their 2D progenitors: chiefly, that sense of discovery and self-direction. I thoroughly enjoyed Skyward Sword, but it led me along by the nose when Link to the Past left me free to follow my nose.

A Link Between Worlds lets you do that, too.

Release Date: Friday, November 22, 2013

From our Preview: It's been quite a while since a proper Mario game has left me genuinely surprised. While almost always enjoyable, the past half-decade or so of the series has generally delivered a suite of things comprised solely of my own personal assumptions. Not since the original Super Mario Galaxy in 2007 has Nintendo blindsided me with the unexpected. So you can probably imagine how pleased I was to get my hands on a small slice of Super Mario 3D World and walk away genuinely surprised in the best possible way.

Be sure to check back at the beginning of every week for a round-up of the week's hottest game and movie releases.

You can follow Lucas M. Thomas on Twitter, @lucasmthomas.

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Xbox One Launch Title Install Sizes Revealed

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Install sizes for Xbox One launch titles have been revealed after a consumer managed to get hold of a console early thanks to a shipping error by Target.

According to Moonlightswami (via NeoGAF), all games will require between 246 MB and 43 GB of storage space to install. This isn't in reference to digital downloads either - all Xbox One titles will require an install.

Seeing as the Xbox One comes with an internal hard drive size of 500 GB, it looks like you'll need to get into the habit of deleting old games once you're done with them, at least until the promised external hard drive support is added.

The install sizes he's reporting are as follows:

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag – 20GBBattlefield 4 – 33GBCall of Duty: Ghosts – 39GBDead Rising 3 – 19GBFIFA 14 – 8GBFighter Within – 9.2GBForza Motorsport 5 – 31GBJust Dance 2014 – 22GBKiller Instinct – 3.4GBLococyle – 13GBMadden NFL 25 – 12GBNBA 2K14 – 43GBNBA Live 14 – 9GBPowerstar Golf – 3.9GBRyse: Son of Rome – 34GBSkylanders: Swap Force – 15GBXbox Fitness – 246MBZoo Tycoon – 2.6GBZumba World Party – 24GB

Some games can apparently be played midway through the install process and, as you'd expect, installation is fairly speedy.

Thanks, X-One Magazine.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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PAX Australia 2014 tickets on sale now

Tickets are now available for PAX Aus next year, that will be hitting the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from October 31 to November 02, 2014.

Tickets can only be purchased only through the Web page of PAX Aus here.

The shift to the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre will see at least twice the size of most of the areas of function and to meet the demand for content, will triple the number of venues for the 2014.

Individual plates and three days are available for purchase, and the organizers have added a new international currency three days which "provides an option for visitors from outside Australia to make sure that you have a chance to attend the meeting for the weekend".

Near the site hotel rooms have been reserved for attendees PAX Aus 2014; details of accommodation can be found here.

Luke is publisher of IGN AU games. You can find it at IGN here or on Twitter @MrLukeReilly, or chat with him and the rest of the Australian team joining IGN Australia community of Facebook.

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Borderlands 2 short films release the coming month

A trio of student short films set in the universe Borderlands are ready to be publicly shared the coming month as part of the cooperative's Borderlands, 2K Games has announced.

Short films, collectively known as the Borderlands: Tales of HQ - will be posted on YouTube in December and they represent the efforts of the students at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. 2K and gearbox partnered with the school at the beginning of this year to allow students storyboard ideas for a short film of Borderlands, one of whom could be chosen by a panel and then and produced by students of animation.

As revealed in a blog from 2 K Games, the outpouring of interest in the student challenge resulted in those plans are expanded: instead of one, create three different short films. From 14 different scripts, three were chosen and produced, each of whom will be showing up online sometime in December.

One of the three is Leslie Harwood Frankentrap bride. "The bride of Frankentrap, Claptrap struggle with being the last of its kind robot: single, destined for misery and without the possibility of finding his true love," reads the description of 2 K. "Leslie animatic, as the other two elected, is used as a drawing by large teams of students of animation to create fully animated shorts."

Below is the bride of Frankentrap animatic.

The last DLC for Borderlands 2, pack 2 Scout, was announced at the end of last month. Known as Wolverine Wattle Grove, will be released sometime this month.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his free time dying during the final seasons of The x-files. Look at what he's saying on Twitter and follow it on IGN.

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Microsoft talks PGR, Halo Wars and Dance Central prospects

With the launch of the newest Microsoft console only three weeks, now is a time as good as any other will begin to wonder about the future of the franchise that they do not have a clear path ahead of them. Having addressed the future of Gears of War, IGN asked that Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer on several exclusive Xbox and if we could see them again in a unlocked Podcast interview. Here is what he had to say about the prospects in Project Gotham Racing, Dance Central and Halo Wars.

"I am a big fan of Halo Wars," Spencer said when asked about the strategy in real time of Xbox 360 game. Since its launch in 2009, the spinoff strategy not have heard again. It was never released on PC (despite apparently being perfect) and developer Ensemble Studios closed after the end of the game. Founder of the study revealed that last year that Bungie was not satisfied with "the whore of [his] franchise". But now it's been years and Bungie no longer belongs to Microsoft, so what is the situation of Halo Wars?

"[Halo Wars is] something I'm very interested in." Bonnie [Ross, 343 Industries GM] and I talk about everything a little, "said Spencer. "I think that it falls in the shadow of the Halo Halo Wars FPS. That is, you're doing 10 units or 12 million FPS Halo, thing coming out Halo which does not reach those numbers, is easy enough for certain people to look at it and say, "Well, that didn't work". And I do not think that it is the correct measure of success; I think that Halo Wars was a high quality console-based RTS game. It was very funny.

"And especially now, when I think about the capacity - could roll their eyes this... but when I think of a voice and other things that you could add to that, that is the kind of game that I think it would be great in these scenarios. And also a game that maybe he could play on multiple devices: he could also play in Windows, could play in console, because it has that game that lends itself so well to that. So I suspect that we will be doing something with... are busy that now in 343, which is good, we are very pleased with what you are working on. But I believe that there is opportunity to do something more with this franchise and Bonnie, Josh [Holmes, creative director] and Kiki [Wolfkill, executive producer 343] are doing a great job by thinking holistically in the Halo franchise.

As to who would develop a game so, IGN mentioned entertainment Robot, age of Empires Online and Orcs Must Die developer which was founded by former employees of set. Spencer did not seem so sure that is the direction that Microsoft would, though. "Not spoken with Robot entertainment at a time," he said. "In fact, I don't know what is the status of that study. If we were going to do something we should not think of doing it internally or find a good RTS developer to help. There are a lot of great RTS developers out there. We'd do a good job with it."

Project Gotham Racing was the flagship of the racing series for Xbox, PGR1 and PGR3 being launch titles for 1 Xbox and Xbox 360, respectively. But being developer Bizarre Creations acquired by Activision in 2007 (and then closed in 2011), PGR have not heard of since the launch of PGR4 in 2007. With the first part slate game being quite full at the time of races, Spencer was particularly high on the possibility of a new PGR to be seen anytime soon.

When asked if the franchise has a future in Xbox, Spencer responded: "perhaps. I think that the system of congratulations that we had in the PGR was very secret sauce. I thought that it was what the people really loved. I had a great feeling, it was there at the launch, I think it was important."

Referring to rumors that circulated about a possible new PGR, Spencer said: "I think that some of the rumors around PGR were probably us working on Forza Horizon with playground, and I think people were just assuming that it was a game of the PGR." We are talking about [Forza developer head rotated 10] Alan Hartman and I, talked of the PGR. I think that we are squarely in the space of racing now when we think about our franchise, but I know that there's a lot of love for the franchise beyond out and it would be interesting to think about what we could do. I don't know that we would never have three console racing franchise. It is very similar to a first party with obviously Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon."

Interestingly, Spencer made to appear as if it were his own franchise Forza Horizon. When you said Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon are all Forza, Spencer said: "Forza Horizon, I would say, PGR to an arcade-style it, but not me sitting on a circuit lap after lap. It is more than one open world".

Dance Central, the 360 exclusive Xbox Kinect dancing series, saw annual releases between 2010 and 2012. However, even with an Xbox with the renewed 2.0 Kinect, there is no word on a new generation of Dance Central. Spencer says much of that drop to Harmonix to be occupied with the development of the fantasy and the fact that Dance Central is a Harmonix game.

"Having Dance Central on the platform again be great. Do you want to have the study well working on it, the right team, "he said.? When it was noted that team is Harmonix, Spencer's agreement: "is Harmonix. So this is not a situation where I thought that games should end with another study and simply take advantage of the brand or something as well.

"For us, it was a relationship of the second part, so it is not really a game published first-party, meaning the game financed it and marketed and distributed by them." So they control the destiny of this franchise. But I know well to Alex and we have conversations about it, and a great franchise. You can see more of Dance Central, but I think that we should do it at the right time with the study of law, which is Harmonix".

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his free time dying during the final seasons of The x-files. Look at what he's saying on Twitter and follow it on IGN.

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Why Doesn't Xbox One Have a First-Party FPS at Launch?

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Shooters, and first-person shooters, in particular, have arguably always been the preeminent genre on Xbox platforms, starting with Xbox 1 coming right out of the gate with Halo: Combat Evolved. Microsoft also had a first-party FPS, Perfect Dark Zero, out for the launch of Xbox 360, and while that game didn't live up to the legacy of Perfect Dark nor Halo, it was still a Microsoft-published shooter on day one. No equivalent game is on the slate of Xbox One launch titles, something which stems from Microsoft not taking a "genre focus" when evaluating its software portfolio.

"When I think about launch portfolios and, really, the portfolio all up, I tend not to take a real genre focus on trying to fill a specific hole in a portfolio," said Microsoft Game Studios corporate VP Phil Spencer on the latest episode of Podcast Unlocked. "In a lot of ways, the 360 has been home to many of the great first-person shooters. Halo at the original Xbox launch was incredible. You've seen Call of Duty, you see Battlefield, you see a lot of great games coming. For us, it was really just about finding the great games where the timing lined up for the creative to actually land at launch with an amazing game, you want to make sure you have great visuals. ...It isn't really something we focused on; we wanted to make sure we had great core games, great games for everybody. I feel great about the launch lineup all up."

It's not as if there won't be any shooters for Xbox One in November. Both Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 will be available for Xbox One on launch day, but those games can be played on other platforms -- and sooner -- most notably on PlayStation 4. Although it will also be available on Xbox 360 and PC, Titanfall is considered the big, exclusive killer app for Xbox One at this point, and all indications point it to being great. It won't, however, be available until next March, almost four months after Xbox One's launch. So did Microsoft ever approach Electronic Arts and Respawn about getting it out in time for launch?

"The nice thing about the way our partners and I try to develop the games is really trying to get the creative right first," Spencer explained. "And the old axiom, 'A game is only late once; it's bad forever' -- you want to make sure you've got the right time. For us, where the game is landing is actually really nice. Having it come in in March is fantastic when you think about: There's a lot of content at launch, which is obviously only a certain number of consoles early on in the life cycle and it will continue to sell, and then having a great beat in early '14 for core fans is going to be fantastic. So when I look at the timing of when that release is coming, I think it's almost perfect for us as a platform."

Spencer did say there would have been an effect if Titanfall launched alongside the system -- "a game that's that spectacular would have had an impact" -- but he says he actually prefers it coming early next year. That's because this fall is ultimately a small slice of the overall picture: "I look at this holiday as kind of an abnormal time in the competition [with Sony]. It's a very compressed amount of time between when the consoles come out and the holiday season. We're both going to build a lot of hardware. But in the long-term, it's a very small percentage of the overall hardware install base that gets sold right now."

For more from Spencer on Microsoft's approach to first-party software, check out IGN's full interview with him on Podcast Unlocked.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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Dead Rising 3: Capcom expects to sell 1.2 million

Capcom has revealed sales figures and projections for some of its major franchises.

Following yesterday's news Resident Evil 5 is now top-selling game of the company, has been more recently released released additional information about titles.

In the six months from April of 2013, it seems that Lost Planet 3 surpassed worldwide by the Dogma of the dragon: come dark. While the latter managed to sell 650,000 units around the world, it is the last entry in the franchise's Lost Planet to sell only 300,000.

Looking to the future, Capcom projected sales of 1.2 million for its Xbox exclusive, due to the world when the console is launched on November 22.

It is a very optimistic figure since it comes at the start of the cycle's console where the installed base is limited, and the company has opted to throw in a single platform. Seeing how EA predicted that around 5 million Xbox would be sent at the end of March 2014, a fairly high percentage of console owners would have to pick up the title if Capcom is to give to its objectives.

Luke Karmali is the IGN UK Junior Editor. You can also enjoy mediocrity to follow it on IGN and on Twitter.

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19 Treasures Plundered from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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Creed IV Assassins: bandera negra solo ha navegado en los estantes de las tiendas, y los fans dedicados ya han estado matando los desventurados ciudadanos del Caribe desde hace unos dias. A medida que continue a capitan Edward Kenway acumular el computo virtual, usted puede encontrar el fandom de la serie ha sido aventada en llamas mas que nunca – es un juego fantastico, despues de todo – y Ubisoft hechos a una gran variedad de productos oficiales de usar, exhibir o leer con orgullo en esos momentos cuando eres capaz de sacar a si mismo lejos del controlador.

Hemos recopilado una lista de 19 diversos articulos para su consideracion. Echa un vistazo a cada uno y ver si alguno captar su atencion lo suficiente para que pases tus costado doblones.

Nota:Los precios y promociones compilados por debajo son exactas en el momento que publicamos esta historia, pero todos estan sujetos a cambio.

La pieza mas emblematica de mercancia Assassins Creed por varios anos consecutivos, ha sido con capucha "pico" de Ubisoft – su saliente puntiagudo refleja la mirada de la campana de firma de cada heroe en cada entrega del juego. Ese articulo todavia esta disponible ahora, y Ubi amplio su linea de sudadera con capucha para incluir varias otras opciones – incluido una elegante azul marino de manga larga con capucha T adornado con los graficos de las hojas ocultas apropiadamente colocadas sobre sus antebrazos. (Tambien es el mas asequible del conjunto).

Si las camisas son un poco demasiado caros (o tienes suerte de vivir en un ambiente calido ano Caribe-como), seleccion de Ubisoft de camisetas podria ser una alternativa para ti. Muchos de los mismos disenos en las camisas se replican aqui en forma de manga corta, junto con un diseno exclusivo de solo-en-un-T – una recreacion del mundo real de la camiseta de beisbol Abstergo entretenimiento en el juego mismo.

Si opta por una camiseta o una sudadera con capucha, usted podria tomar el siguiente paso en la construccion de equipo un Assassins Creed por la vinculacion de su torso seleccionado cubriendo con un extra, accesorios elemento. Ubi tiene cubierto con cinturon y opciones de pulsera, junto con el mas asequible del articulo en nuestra lista de hoy – el pin de la bandera negra de cinco dolares.

Anadir mas profundidad a su comprension del entorno de bandera negra al recoger una copia del "Flagelo Historia – piratas del Caribe," que ofrece mas de 100 paginas de penetracion en la historia del mundo real y figuras historicas reales que inspiro el juego. Enciclopedia oficial de Assassins Creed se ha hecho disponible antes, pero su edicion recien publicado version 3.0 actualiza sus contenidos para incluir informacion sobre la bandera negra. Y luego, si desea escribir su propia historia, Ubisoft tiene una bandera negra-tematica revista en blanco a la venta tambien. ?Por que querrias eso? Bueno, hay una pelicula de fan de YouTube para el.

Finalmente, cuando llega a ella, puede haber una mejor manera de celebrar la experiencia de Creed IV Assassins: bandera negra que por tener, literalmente, la bandera negra si mismo. Esto podria verse grande en las paredes de su sala de juegos, y unirse a sus otros "coleccionables que son el nombre del juego vienen" como esa ceramica Ocarina of Time que usted compro a Songbird Ocarinas hace anos.

Ubisoft tiene incluso mas opciones disponibles que esos sobre anterior en la tienda taller Ubi, asi que salta para hacer la navegacion mas alla si ninguno de los articulos sobre sus necesidades.

Lucas M. Thomas ha escrito por IGN desde consola activa de Nintendo todavia era la GameCube. Lo puedes seguir en Twitter, @lucasmthomas.

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Ubisoft kills online step system of immediate effect

Ubisoft has decreased its system online pass, effective immediately. The Uplay Passport code necessary to unlock the features in the recent Assassin's Creed IV line: black flag is now provided free of charge, and Uplay passports will no longer be a part of any future Ubisoft games.

Like similar systems Online Pass, Uplay Passport program requires players activate a unique code which is only available with new copies of the game. Buyers of second hand, or those who had borrowed the game, would be required to buy their own Uplay Passport for an additional fee.

Regeneration of the player, however, has been Ubisoft now reject the plan.

"Fans of Assassin's Creed, you hear loud and clear," writes communications manager Gary Steinman Ubisoft Blog.

"In the black flag IV Assassin's Creed, Edward fleet is an innovative feature online that allows a player to interact with several players on consoles or through the accompaniment to the game application. Each new copy of the black flag Assassins Creed IV includes the Uplay Passport code necessary to unlock this function online.

"However, we listen to our community and understand that there are concerns about the ability of some players to access this feature, so we have decided to remove the cost of the Passport Uplay by black flag. This ensures that everyone will be able to use the application partner, Edward bonus available online, fleet without additional cost and multiplayer content.

"What's more, Uplay Passport will not be part of any future Ubisoft game."

According to Ubisoft, the company "has recognized that the Passport is not the best approach to ensure that all our customers have the best possible experience with all facets of our games".

Players currently without passports Uplay for black flag will be able to download one free Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. Players who have already bought a Uplay Passport for black flag advise is to contact your local Ubisoft support.

EA killed their own passes Online at the beginning of this year. Sony made it clear yesterday that Sony PS4 titles would not require a pass Online and that "most third parties have eliminated the use of systems Online Pass, so it is unlikely to appear in PS4."

Luke is publisher of IGN AU games. You can find it at IGN here or on Twitter @MrLukeReilly, or chat with him and the rest of the Australian team joining IGN Australia community of Facebook.

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Steam passes 65 million accounts & recent destination details

Happy Halloween, everyone! Be sure to watch today's program for Creed 4 our Assassins: black flag asks sweepstakes for a chance to win a copy of the game. Helpful hint: previous episodes of this week also to increase your chances of responding.

This is the news we cover:

More answers about the PS4 get revealed in latest Q & A. find out Sony what you can not do so with the next generation console.

See our wiki with an up-to-date list of the titles of release PS4.

Red Barrel gives lurid details about his latest DLC.

Bungie talks about space travel and if the game will never make their way to PC.

Details of his most recent successes of steam and announces a special Halloween sale.

Naomi Kyle is host of news and personality in the Chamber of the IGN. You can find it every day in The Daily Fix, kicking back. You can follow you on Twitter @NaomiKyle.

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Which Assassin's Creed Game is the Best?

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Assassin's Creed IV is here! It reinvigorates the series with a greater sense of freedom and adventure than ever. But how does it stack up to the rest of the Assassin's Creed games? Our biggest Assassin's Creed fans put their heads together to figure that out. Below we have ranked the six core Assassin's Creed games based on their overall quality and current stature.

Special note: There are a lot of very cool Assassin's Creed spin-offs and handheld releases, but we decided to just focus on the core console & PC Assassin's Creed experiences. Bloodlines on the PSP and Liberation on the PS Vita were strong candidates for inclusion since they look and feel like Assassin's Creed, but they also look and feel like side stories. After much deliberation we decided to not include them, as it simply isn't a fair comparison to stack them up against the core console titles that had much bigger budgets and appeared on more powerful hardware.

Relevations represents the low point of Ubisoft’s “kitchen sink” Assassin’s Creed mentality. It’s not enough to recruit and develop the skills of fellow Assassins - Revelations has to use them in an ill-conceived tower defense minigame. It’s not enough to be able to craft bombs - Revelations has to have multiple types of craftable bombs, and the ability to loot bomb-crafting materials from virtually everywhere. It’s commendable that the story brings the tales of Ezio and Altair around full-circle, but the city of Constantinople is arguably the weakest and least distinct setting in an Assassin’s Creed game.

The original Assassin’s Creed suffers from the opposite problem as its numerous sequels. While those games are packed with systems and sideshows to the point of distraction, AC1 instead feels a little repetitive and limited in scope. Its now-famous fluid movement system and impressive verticality make controlling Altair a lot of fun, though. And the game’s 12th century Middle Eastern setting certainly feels unique, even compared to the historical settings future games would tackle. But the game never quite overcomes its repetitive nature.

Setting an Assassin’s Creed game during the American revolution sounds like a no-brainer, right? Unfortunately AC III suffers from a major case of sequelitis. The overwrought story and opening tutorials take nearly 10 hours to truly turn players loose on the world. And once the sandbox does open up, mission scripting problems and other technical glitches hamper the fun. Multiplayer is further refined, the American setting is thrilling, and the core leaping, stalking, and killing are still plenty satisfying, though.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood lets players explore Rome and its surrounding countryside in all its glory. Palling around with Leonardo Da Vinci, climbing the Coliseum and other incredible Roman sights, all while building up your own personal Assassin army - what’s not to like? Brotherhood is the genesis of the complaint that AC games simply cram in too many distractions, but we think the balance here is just right. Brotherhood also scores points for introducing the series’ surprisingly strong and innovative multiplayer.

Assassin’s Creed IV’s more lighthearted pirate setting is a fantastic fit for the series’ trademark open-ended, fluid exploration and combat. It’s an enthralling game for adventurers. Just strike out on the open seas and go… anywhere. The game also benefits from a much more playful story that doesn’t get bogged down in politics and melodrama.

Assassin’s Creed II improves on virtually every element of the so-so original. Three huge, distinct Renaissance Italy cities make exploration a joy instead of a chore. And a much-improved storyline keeps you intrigued and invested in Ezio’s struggles. Hidden tombs and a new money system give AC II plenty of extra content without feeling bogged down.

So there you have it - the six core Assassin's Creed titles ranked from worst to best. Did we nail it? Are your personal rankings different? Fill out this quick poll and let us know in the comments!

Our process: These rankings were determined by a small group of IGN editors with the most Assassin's Creed experience: Justin Davis, Keza MacDonald, Marty Sliva, Andrew Goldfarb, Greg Miller, and Daemon Hatfield. In the event of an irreconcilable difference (some IGN editors really enjoy Revelations for example), consensus within the group determined the final rankings. IGN's review scores were used as a starting off point, but opinions on games can shift over time, and we allowed each game to slide up or down these rankings regardless of its original score. 

Justin Davis is the second or third best-looking Editor at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @ErrorJustin and on IGN.

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Rare Hasn't Been Designated a Kinect-Only Developer

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

It seems as if anytime Rare's name has been mentioned in an official capacity over the past five years, it's been connected to the development of a Kinect game. The various iterations of Kinect Sports have represented the bulk of its output over the past half decade, and when the developer talks about revisiting some of its classic franchises -- among them Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Banjo-Kazooie -- it talks about using Kinect to do so. Despite this, Microsoft has not pigeonholed Rare into the role of exclusively developing games for Kinect, and a more traditional game could be in its future.

In the latest episode of Podcast Unlocked, Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer was asked if a controller-based game could be in Rare's future. He answered directly: "Absolutely, I think they do." As for the notion that he or someone at Microsoft has forced Rare to focus only on Kinect, he dismissed the idea.

I haven't said Rare has to be a Kinect studio. I've never said that to them.

"In terms of force, I know people probably don't believe it when I say this: I don't force Rare to do anything. Like, forcing a studio to do something is a very short-term ambition as the head of studios because, in the end, people will vote with their feet, and they'll just go work somewhere else. And Rare has enjoyed the creative, and, frankly, the hit success of [the] Kinect Sports series; it's been an incredibly successful series for them, and it's been great for the studio.

"Craig Duncan is head of the studio now; he and I talked probably just a month ago about some ideas," he continued. "I'm not going to say that the... success of, at least, from a PR standpoint, of the Killer Instinct announce hasn't had a little bit of a positive impact there on, 'Hey, what are things that we can do?' ...When the Rare teams look at that -- 'Hey, what do you know? Something like Killer Instinct can gain such a huge response...' And I know it hasn't shipped yet -- we'll see how it actually does in the market -- but I think it gets some people thinking."

"I haven't said Rare has to be a Kinect studio. I've never said that to them," Spencer claimed. He later expanded on this, adding, "I haven't said they have to continue to work on Kinect Sports Rivals, or Kinect Sports is the only thing that they do."

Although he didn't provide any indication that they are the aforementioned revivals of its old franchises, Spencer did say Rare has been kicking around ideas for something outside of the Kinect Sports series. "Last time I talked to Craig, they had some ideas about things they might do that were not in the Kinect Sports series, and I'd be completely supportive of that, absolutely," he said.

Kinect Sports Rivals was originally scheduled to be an Xbox One launch title before it was delayed until next year. Microsoft announced this week that it will, however, have a free trial of one of the game's sports for Xbox One early adopters to play at launch on November 22.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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Space Marine creator: Captain Titus would have “gone rogue” if the series had continued

Space Marine, the ultra-violent close-combat exploration of the grisly Warhammer 40K universe, was a good game that didn’t get enough attention. Still, had THQ not completely imploded at the end of 2012, Space Marine’s protagonist Captain Titus was planned to have been at the center of two more games. The game’s director, Raphael van Lierop, is now part of the team that successfully Kickstarted The Long Dark, and he claims to have had big plans for Titus.

“The second part of his story was to focus on a ‘Titus Unleashed’ plot—basically there were forces arrayed against him that would see his loyalty to the Adeptus Astartes pushed to its limit, and his reaction would be to kind of ‘go rogue,’ and we’d see a different Titus, not quite as in control as we saw him in Space Marine,” van Lierop told The PA Report. “He would survive, and come back even stronger in the third game, where other Space Marines still loyal to him would rally around him and he’d return to ‘clean house,’ but as the head of a brand new Chapter that we would build around him.”

I found Space Marine to be a well-made ballet of death and carnage, which is my favorite kind of ballet. For more details on Titus’s cancelled storylines, check out the full interview with van Lierop at PAR.

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Saturday Crapshoot: The Clue!

Every week, Richard Cobbett rolls the dice to bring you an obscure slice of gaming history, from lost gems to weapons grade atrocities. This week, GTA is far from the only way to experience a life of crime. You could rob a bank in real life! Or, alternatively…

As credos go, a thief’s is pretty simple: What’s yours is mine. Why, it’s so fundamental to the job, games about them may even pinch it from each other. Before Garrett though, and certainly before… uh… The Yellow Guy, the art of thievery was a little more of an adventure. A not very well translated one, admittedly, but still. The time is the 1950s. The place, London. The goal, to master the art of theft.

I hope it’s fingerpainting. I was always best at fingerpainting.

I want to know the cross woman on the right’s story. Just look at her sullen fury.

So there I was, pretending to be in the middle of an anecdote, when I found myself on the platforms at Victoria Station. Three pounds in my pocket, a perpetual cigarette between my lips. No friends, no contacts, and only at 82% health. Probably something to do with the cigarette. This of course will not be allowed to stand. By the end of the week, I fully intend to be the Moriarty to this city’s Sherlock, the Lupin III to its Zenigata, the Hamburglar to its Mayor McCheese. All I need to accomplish this is everything. Conveniently, that’s also what I intend to steal.

But first things first.

Despite being broke, I call a taxi. I’m expecting a typically dour taxi driver, which will make it easier when I either Grand Theft Auto or Daley Thompson’s Decathalon my way out of paying at the end of the ride. Instead, I come face to face with the terrifying sight of Dan Stanford, the taxi company’s boss. “May I congratulate you on being the 1000000. client of our Taxi & Transport Company!” he exclaims.

Well, that’s a stroke of luck. FOR YOU.

With my free ticket, I head down to Holland Street to find a place to crash out, and start assembling my crew. Bed first. Crime later.

Hallo. My shop is F. Maloya. You undercut my father. Prepare to buy.

The Ugley Dog Hotel appeals to me, because any establishment that casual about typos must be confident of itself. “I’ve booked a room in advance,” I lie. “Under which name?” the fiendish receptionist replies, cutting right through my lie like some kind of super detective bastard man. I can’t use my own, obviously – which is “Matt Stuvysant”, incidentally – so I go to the second name on the list. “Mark Goldberg,” I say, as confidently as I can. Nothing happens. “Oh,” I add, and actually click the option.

“Oh, Mr Goldberg, I’m awfully sorry I didn’t recognize you at once!” says the receptionist. “We’ve got no room booked in advance under your name, but this is certainly due to a mistake in our administration!”

“Yes, well, don’t let it happen again,” I order him, taking the keys to Room 8.

You… er… ‘took advantage of a private hotel room’ already? For shame, sir. This is the 1950s!

“Home sweet home,” my future self tells me, as I survey it. That makes me feel better, mostly because I can see that some time in the future, I’ll be upgrading from a damp cigarette to a full on pipe. I wonder if he gets flash-forwards to his even more future self covered in Nicorette patches. I hope not, because that would be incredibly wussy thing, and a master thief like myself has no time for such childish nonsense.

Anyway, the first thing I do in my hotel room is phone Mummy.

“If someone listened to the rest of this conversation, he would surely believe that I’m quite a whimp for someone of my age,” narrates my future self, who can’t spell ‘wimp’, apparently. “However, it has to be said that my father never had enough time for me, and that therefore I had a very close relationship to my mother.” What he doesn’t mention though is that Mummy is connected. Where most mothers will advise wrapping up warm or wearing clean underwear, Mummy instead wastes no time setting up an underworld meeting with a man named Mr. Briggs, in what’s technically called the Fat Man’s Pub but looks disturbingly like the UK branch of Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name… unless it’s the fuzz asking, obviously.

Briggs is a fat man with a plan – probably involving an all-lard dinner. He also wants to arrange a really big score, which currently has just one minor problem holding it back. He’s broke. How broke? He can’t afford the tools, he can’t afford the car, and his best plan for fixing this is to rob… a kiosk. Somehow, I don’t see this guy going after the Crown Jewels any time soon.

To conduct a burglary though, I need a couple of basic things – a getaway driver, who will be behind the wheel of some clunking piece of crap that he can provide, and some kind of tool to jemmy open a lock. Both, I’m told, can be found on Watling Street, along with the police station should I decide to go and turn myself in for kicks at some point. On a whim, I head over to meet the Competition – Inspector Gludo.

He’s very professional.

It’s okay, he’s just auditioning for that hit play “An Inspector Calls You Names”.

And he doesn’t even notice me steal his police identity card. Score!

A second bar beckons, called – oddly – “Walrus & the yellow shades”. It’s a little funkier than Callahan’s Transworld Saloon, so I figure that it probably has a better class of criminals. Like this lady, Elizabeth.

So, before you ask me what a nice girl like me is doing in a place like this, ask if you like your car in one piece.

Coughing, I switch effortlessly into my most charming voice. “What’s your job?” I ask. “Housewife.” she replies. “Have you ever had any trouble with the police?” “No. I’ve never committed any crime.”

Ah.

“Would you like to help me break into a kiosk in Fulham?” I ask anyway. “I’ll take 55 percent,” she snaps.

I think we have our getaway driver!

How does an adventure gamer implement their crimes? In the ‘scum’ engine, of course!

Back at the hotel, it’s time to plan a crime. Elizabeth will obviously be the Bonny to my Clyde, but unfortunately when I assign her to the car, she refuses on the grounds that she’s sure I can find someone much more qualified. Her name turns out to be Justin White… Justine, presumably… who actually has the balls to follow a complete stranger into an illegal heist. Liz, you broke my heart.

Planning is a little strange. It’s done in time units, with adventure game commands that build up into a full operation. Walking to a door will take as long as it takes, obviously. Breaking through it with a jemmy is another 15 or so seconds, while other things take longer. This being a smash-and-grab, there’s really nothing more to it than Justin waiting outside, me going in to grab the cash, and then us all leaving.

You could have done that, Liz. This could have been you. This money could have been yours. But it is not, and it never will be, and that’s on you, Liz. That’s your fault.

Oh, come on! Pig-Pen from Peanuts doesn’t leave this much of a trail where he walks!

After the heist, the police go over the scene in great detail but don’t pick up a vast number of clues, or The Clue!s as the case may be. This one can be officially declared a success, unless your name is Liz The Coward, obviously. And Liz? That’s your new name. To celebrate, I head down to the pub to find more work, only to be stopped by a totally legitimate looking bloke who definitely isn’t the Inspector.

Monsieur! Votre subterfuge est tres formidable!

Telling him where to stick his pipe, and offering him a light with which to start smoking it, Not Inspector Gludo takes immediate umbrage. “Mon cher, don’t be that aggressive. I’ve only got one toute petite question: Would you sell me your… how do you say… loot?”

Well, why not? Ignoring that the loot is already cash, obviously.

“Ha! You thief!” Gludo screams. “You are under arrest, in the name of Law! Everything you say from now on… may be used… and, um… everything else… may be, umm… used as well!” And from there, it’s mostly downhill. To the station. Booking. A long jail sentence, with much time to reflect. Finally, a quieter, more honest life, as a monk who takes the old ‘smoking habit’ joke a little too literally.

As far as his sex life goes, he’s had nun for years.

Yeah, right. As if. Though honestly, the idea that I’d fall for that trick is almost as insulting as the offers I’m given from local dealers. See, despite having stolen cash, The Clue doesn’t see it as regular money, the kind which you might be able to just spend. As such, I need to take it to a fence. About ?175 for ?190 seems like a distinctly poor rate of exchange, even on the streets…

Wonder if fences get annoyed at people taking them fences to sell as a joke? They must get real epee-d off.

At this point though, I feel free to be my own criminal… more or less. Mr. Briggs claims he has some big score planned, but that I’m not a bad enough criminal yet. Please! I raided an unoccupied kiosk. I’m basically Scarface, only better, because I have no scars. I’m… uh… Face, I guess.

Most of the rest of The Clue is at least somewhat open, with seven places to rob in ascending order of complexity – an old peoples’ home, an art gallery… the grave of Karl Marx. Yes, really. You break in at night to lift his bones. Not jump them, mind. That would be a very different game.

A thing that actually happens in this game, actually happening.

Each one involves going to the site and Investigating, which means sitting outside and filling up an accuracy bar without being caught, then assembling a team, buying the equipment and getaway vehicle, and setting out a plan with pinpoint precision. The catch is that while you do get to see guard movements while conducting the plan, it’s only when actually carrying it out that they’re able to trigger alarms and call the police. This is officially known as “A Bad Thing”. Possibly even “A Very Bad Thing.”

‘Vhrom’? Want to try that onomatopoeia again, game?

Of course, the more heists you do, the more heist-gear you can afford. In that first mission, it’s just a jemmy. Later, more advanced breaking and entering gear is on offer, as are useful extra tools like chloroform. No rope arrows or Outsider powers though, more’s the pity.

But what’s all this in aid of? What’s Mr. Briggs’ big mission?

The Tower of London, of course. He really does want the Crown Jewels.

Can’t fault his ambition, I guess.

But that’s a lot of crimes away, and there’s a little bit after it when it turns out that there’s no honour amongst thieves. Not even Carmen Sandiego’s crew, as they discovered after one too many karaoke performances of her theme song led to her deciding that her next theft would be ‘their oxygen’.

The Clue, itself an enhanced remake of an older game called They Stole A Million, would later get a 3D sequel called The Sting, which took the game into 3D but focused more on the heists in a world so foggy, it’s like going treasure hunting in Silent Hill. Technically, that was always the meat of the game. The Clue though was far more fun for its adventure game leanings, with the characters wandering around town, the weird conversations that sometimes popped up, and the sense that you weren’t just ticking heists off a list – though obviously, you totally were. The Clue gives up any pretence of being a hardcore criminal simulator round about the time it provides free boarding, taxis, and only objects to you standing around for literally days on end without food and water because you’re being boring.

Though it is enough of one to suggest that a modern remake could be seriously cool.

Why steal Karl Marx’s bones? Why does a mountaineer climb mountains? Because **** mountains, that’s why.

As for my little crime spree? It ended in ignominious failure after a watchman caught me digging up Karl Marx’s bones from his grave, mostly because I was fascinated to see who the hell was going to be able to fence them. It’s not the kind of thing you can just take to eBay, and it’s not as if London’s hardcore gangsters are likely to care much whose moldy bones are over the fireplace. Sadly, when the whistle was blown, too much evidence… too much Clue… had been left behind to make a clean getaway.

Needless to say, I totally blame Liz.

I don’t know what happened to the rest of the team, but monastery life didn’t turn out too bad, all things considered. Especially when I saw some of the nice stuff in the glass cases. Jean Valjean had the right idea, if you ask me. His only real mistake was losing his balls afterwards and becoming a whimp. Yes, one with a h. That’s how it’s spelled these days, young whippersnappers.

(sucks on pipe, reaches for Nicorette patches)

Incorrectly.

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Warface goes liveface next Monday

Crytek’s free-to-play shooty shooting game Warface is already open for business in Russia and China, and after a long Western beta period, it will very soon open shop over here too. Monday 21st October is the launch date to write on your face in military crayon, though you can sign up in advance if you already know what online handle you’re going to use. (Something with the word ‘face’ in it, presumably.) To mark the occasion, Crytek have released a ‘going live’ trailer, below, though they’ve neglected to include Philip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher.

Warface, of course, recently came in for a kicking over its dismally designed female soldier avatars. Have Crytek come up with some more fitting attire for the game’s Western launch?

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Spice Road: an alternate history trading strategy game, now with demo

Spice Road is an upcoming indie game about a very spicy road. It’s also about trading, economic simulation, empire-building, expansion, eighteenth-century alternate history, real-time strategy, and dudes with particularly luxurious sideburns. That’s a lot of stuff to take in all at once, but developers Aartform Games have you covered with that most antiquated of things: a playable demo (direct link). If you enjoy buying, selling, building or expanding, you owe it to your clicking finger to take a look.

Spice Road’s (surprisingly download-friendly) demo is quite slow to get started, while the game itself is labouring under some rather functional presentation – however it doesn’t take too long for its inherent, slightly clunky charm to poke through. (Spice Road is still in beta, so there’s plenty of time for things to change). It’s a game with some considerable breadth, employing real-time strategy, 4X, town-building and trading elements, and mashing them together in a reassuringly approachable strategy melange. If the demo sits well with you, you can vote for the game on Steam Greenlight, or buy into the beta on the site.

Spicy trailer below.

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Reinstall: Jagged Alliance 2

Reinstall invites you to join us in revisiting classics of PC gaming days gone by. This week, we roll into tactical RPG history with our soldiers of fortune in Jagged Alliance 2.

The Hamburglar has fatally misjudged the blast range of TNT. Wayne Gretzky is dead, too—his blood all leaked out on an airport runway through a sniper hole between the lungs. I can’t keep my team of fantasy mercenaries alive.

Naming a party of characters is one of the game-given rights of X-COM-like turn-based tactical RPGs. It’s instantly gratifying to take a commando named after your cat into combat. And when permanent death is a possibility, it’s a way of emotionally investing yourself in the animated sprites you’re sending into harm’s way.

Jagged Alliance 2 didn’t release with that feature, but the community-produced 1.13 patch/mod that I’m playing with adds it. It injects content into PC gaming’s best late-comer to the isometric tactical RPG party without altering any story or quests.

Easily installed, 1.13 doesn’t change JA2’s identity—it’s still a game of deliberate, tactical gunplay that feels like South American guerrilla chess, in which you hire a team of mercenaries to stage an insurrection against the unruly queen of Arulco. And there’s still charming ‘90s action-humor threaded through the plot (“Let’s pop some zits!” one lady-merc yells when an enemy is spotted).

1.13 enhances what’s there, upping the maximum resolution to 1024?768, adding hundreds of new weapons—including gratifying super-items like Ghillie suits and depleted-uranium bullets—reorganizing hotkeys and altering the AI so that enemies flank better, take cover more often, can climb onto roofs and utilize suppressive fire.

Playing back through JA2 with 1.13 appended is an exercise in intricate tactics and character development. There are so few RPGs that make the act of fostering a party member a series of small-but-meaningful decisions in the way that JA2does. By the third mission—the liberation of a mine and sweatshop in Drassen—you’re juggling piles of pistols and equipment that you’ve inherited from deceased enemies or found lingering in rooms, closets, shelves and refrigerators that you explore during and after combat.

But characters don’t have a generic inventory—you can pick between pistol holsters (and which leg to strap them to), harnesses or backpacks, and each of these bags has a different weight and capacity associated with them. What those granular bits of design create is room for more creativity and ownership over your characters. In the middle of my playthrough, I had a knife-wielding explosives expert that I used to breach walls and lay traps, a dual-pistol-wielding femme fatale, a frail, dedicated medic and a 96-marksman-ship sniper that could dismantle enemy ambushes with his Dragunov rifle.

There’s also an unconventional mechanic for improving characters. In lulls between combat, you can set any character to be a “trainer” or “student,” using a merc with high mechanical or agility training to teach another. In the same way, you can train friendly NPC militia within towns that you’ve cleared to fight better on your behalf. I hired a merc named “Raider” for a two-week, $20,000 job just so he could boost my militia in the town of Omerta.

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Watch Dogs producer: sci-fi surveillance tech of the game “exists in the present”

One of the games I’ve been most looking forward to this year (and now next year) is Watch Dogs, both for its non-GTA open world environment and its ludicrous display of hacking and Big Brother omnipresence. An all-seeing security grid is a great sci-fi premise, but according to a new feature at Polygon, Chicago’s real-world surveillance technology is just about as pervasive as the fictional version in Watch Dogs.

Chicago is apparently home to an extensive array of Chicago PD–monitored cameras, and technology like facial recognition searches have been used to solve crimes. The surveillance network in Chicago, named Operation Virtual Shield is the largest in the United States. As it turns out, the most fictional thing about Watch Dogs is the protagonist’s ability to hack into any system with his phone.

“When we started five years ago we were thinking, ‘Are we pushing too much? Are we too futuristic?’” Ubisoft Producer Thomas Geoffroyd says. “But in the past few years the present has caught us. We feel [the game exists] in the present, in the now.”

Senior producer Dominic Guay seems to agree. “Reality has caught us…Looking further out to if we’d make a sequel to Watch Dogs we could probably make a much bigger jump forward and probably have reality catching us again.”

Check out the excellent feature in its entirety over at Polygon.

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Civilization V to get two new map packs, Scrambled Continents out now

Mmm, scrambled continents. Perfect with a bit of black pepper and toast and – oh. I seem to have hilariously gotten the wrong end of the stick. Scrambled Continents is a new map pack for Civ 5, announced and released right now, which randomises the contents of continents each time you start a new game to ensure “endless replayability on countless plausible worlds”. They’ve even gone and thawed Antarctica, giving us an early look at life in the post Global Warming-era.

Firaxis will follow up Scrambled Continents on November 5th with the similarly mashed-up Scrambled Nations, which is the same deal but for nation states rather than chunks of land. As you may have guessed, both bits of DLC are inspired by the Civ 5 scenario Scrambled Africa, and they’ll set you back $4.99/?3.99 a piece. Scrambled eggs, meanwhile, shouldn’t cost any more than a couple of quid, even in That London.

Thanks, GameZone.

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Divinity: Dragon Commander trailer rounds up players’ political decisions

Divinity: Dragon Commander has been out for a few months now, giving Dragon Knights ample opportunity to decide the fate of its colourful world. Now, developer Larian Studios have collected up those myriad political decisions into an infotrailer showing what players decided. What would the world look like if it were ran by people who enjoyed pretending to be a dragon? Well, for one thing, there’d be slightly more nudity.

Sure, it’s not a perfect utopia. Torture being approved 50% of the time is slightly alarming. Still, maybe we should take comfort from the fact that players voted overwhelmingly in favour of helping the ill and impoverished. In fact, it seems dragons are more open to the idea of universal healthcare than dinosaurs. Yeah, I could do political satire.

The trailer coincides with a recent patch, bringing AI improvements, global chat, a new battle report system, and a series of balance changes. There’s also a Dragon Commander Steam sale, with the game available for 40% off until the 14th October.

Larian have collected more player decision stats into an Excel spreadsheet, available from here. And if you’re interested in taking part in the game’s draconic political process, check out Tim Stone’s review.

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Democracy 3 out now, political arguments with friends and family to follow

Democracy’s a tricky business. You have voters to appease, special interest groups to tranquilize, and promises to either uphold or bury in the backyard—all while deciding which of your signatures looks the most patriotic. The world of political subterfuge isn’t for everyone, but that’s why we have Democracy 3.

In case you aren’t familiar with the series, Democracy is a political strategy game that somewhat resembles the crushing monotony of reality. Your policies influence voters, all of whom belong to various demographics. Raising taxes will probably piss off conservatives, while gutting the education fund could lead to angry teachers and union workers marching on your doorstep. It’s a balancing act that tests your ideologies on how government should work.

Democracy 3 is available through the developer’s site, GOG, and Steam for $25, and can be played on either Windows, Mac, or Linux. Basically, if your computer’s halfway decent and isn’t still running Windows ME, Democracy should boot up just fine.

Of course, if quelling rebellions, silencing opposition and ruling your impoverished, war-torn nation with an iron fist is more your style, there’s always Tropico 4.

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Developer Cyan Worlds Announces Myst Obduction, a new game of first-person adventure

20 years later triggered the Myst in the weird and wonderful world, developer Cyan Worlds has a new game first-person adventure in the works. It's called Obduction, and cyan is looking for support through Kickstarter crowdfunding. Developers are turning to Kickstarter after having received an enthusiastic response from publishers, less according to cyan CEO Rand Miller.

"Publishers kind of have a lot of times something in mind and they're on," said Miller in Obduction of the ad. "And what we do is a little different than that."

With a goal of Kickstarter to 1.1 million $, Obduction is based around the premise of being kidnapped, taken to an alien planet and left to solve the mystery of where and why would end in what Miller calls a "bizarre landscape". Cyan, whose original Myst was included in the collection at the Museum of modern art in New York, is trying to create a game that has a similar sense of adventure, but tells a story completely new, according to Miller.

"It would be easy for us to just make a sequel to Myst, but maybe not as satisfying as taking a fresh new look at ... how can you build a spiritual successor to the experience that Myst supplied without necessarily tying ourselves to the story line itself, points out," said Miller. "And that is where we want to go."

The crowdfunding campaign started Thursday and runs through Nov. 16. Check out Miller in the video below for more on Obduction and its genesis.

Hat tip, Gamasutra.

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