In this Co-Op episode of The Forest, Nick and Brian venture further from home and spend the night with some cannibals!
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It’s here, it’s here! November is here!
That’s right kiddies, the big month for game releases is upon us, and there are some blockbusters coming this month. There’s also some smaller games we’re pumped about too, so without further ado, here’s our list of games we’re excited about this month:
Owlboy (PC) – November 1st
After being in development for nine-plus, the gorgeous retro metroidvania game by D-Pad Studio is finally arriving this month.The story involved a young boy names Otus who must save his village from pirates. The game’s mechanics are inspired by Super Mario 3 and Kid Icarus.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Xbox One, PS4, PC) – November 4
SPAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCEEE! That is where infinite warfare happens–at least for this year’s installment of the CoD franchise. Ship combat and a new zombie mode will accompany all the usual bells and whistles. No matter how tired you think the franchise might be, CoD’s multiplayer is always top-notch, and this year shouldn’t be any different.
Dishonored 2 (Xbox One, PS4, PC) – November 11
I’ll be honest, I missed out on Dishonored the first time around, but I’ve since picked it up and have been enjoying it. I’ve made a promise to myself that I’ll finish the first one before diving into the sequel, so I will probably wait ta bit before picking up Dishonored 2. But I’m still excited for it.
Killing Floor 2 (PS4, PC) – November 18
I’ve watched the Killing Floor series from afar over he past few years as it continued to gain popularity on the PC. The horde-based cooperative shooter began as a mod and ended up as a full-fledged retail release in 2009. Killing Floor 2 Now it’s coming to consoles, and I can’t wait to get my hand my hands on it.
Final Fantasy XV (Xbox One, PS4) – November 29
Early word on the latest installment of this legendary franchise has been good. I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t spent much time with the last couple Final Fantasy games. But I started with the series on NES and have so many memories of playing Final Fantasy VII on my original PlayStation that I will always have a soft spot for FF. Will this be the one that brings me back? We’ll see.
That’s our list of November releases we’re looking forward to. What’s on your list? Let us know in the comments.
I prefer to play games alone.
At first blush, that may not be the best opening line for a post on a site with co-op in its title. But while Co-Op Critics is a place where we celebrate games together, that doesn’t mean we have to always play them together. It’s my need to discuss my gaming experiences with others that drove me to create this site, and one of the reasons for that is many of the games I play are single player experiences. Games that I enjoy playing alone, but then need to process with others.READ MORE
In the latest episode of the Co-Op Critics podcast, Brian and Nick talk about one of the more underrated games of the past couple years–Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. They discuss the surprisingly robust multiplayer, the co-op modes and the newly announced sequel. They also dive into the game releases for September 2015 and what’s new on the Co-Op Critics site and YouTube channel.
You can listen to the episode right here in the player above, and check out our SoundCloud page for all the back episodes!
We’re giving away a copy of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited to one lucky winner! All you have to do to enter is follow us on Twitter, tweet about the contest, and Subscribe to our YouTube channel (click the subscribe button in the sidebar). You can come back and tweet about the contest once a day to continue earning more entries! Follow the instructions in the contest widget below to enter.
The winner will be announced at the on June 2nd. To be considered, you must be currently subscribed to our YouTube channel and following us on Twitter. Winner will choose between a copy of Elder Scrolls Online for Xbox One or PS4.
You probably have a few gaming sites you visit at least three or four times a week to keep up on what’s happening in the industry, check out reviews and hopefully look for some interesting games discussion. I bounce between several, but I usually start my morning checking IGN and Polygon, as I know the latest press releases will be there. This is mainly out of habit, and if you visit those two sites regularly, then you may have noticed a couple of things. First, there’s a lot of the same stuff on both of them (although this is par for the course with regard to industry news). And second, there seems to be less and less gaming-related items on those sites than ever before.READ MORE
Today Warner Brothers and LEGO and TT Games unveiled their next big thing–LEGO Dimensions, a “toys to life” game like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, where players will be able to play through all of the different licensed LEGO worlds using a portal, toys and figures they assemble themselves. Here’s the reveal trailer:
Now you might be thinking that since the addition of Nintendo’s Amiibo, the toys to life genre is a bit over-saturated right now. And that might be true, but LEGO is about to completely transform this genre, because they are adding an element that the other have not and cannot (at least to the same degree).
Building.
As you see in the trailer, Joel McHale actually builds the portal that is then used to activate figures and vehicles. He also uses pieces of the Batmobile to create an entirely new type of vehicle. And while we really don’t see much in the way of gameplay in this trailer, I believe those things are shown for a reason. With that in mind, imagine an expansion set for the game where you’re building the vehicles, weapons and structures yourself, and then porting them into the game. I’m sure there will be limitations as to what you can actually do, but even just building the Batmobile and porting it in is pretty darn sweet.
I have an eight year old son, and I can tell you he is going to lose his mind over this. We already have Skylanders and Disney Infinity, which we both play together. He is also a huge LEGO fan, as evidenced by the thousands of LEGOs we have and his LEGO Club membership. This game will be a day one purchase for us.
The potential of LEGO Dimensions is endless. And I’m sure everyone has their ideas of what sets they want to see in the future, so allow me to make a suggestion. If Microsoft is smart, they will find a way to make a LEGO Minecraft XBox exclusive set happen. Not only would it make the Xbox One the lead platform for LEGO Dimensions, it would sell gangbusters. I cannot wait to get my hands on this game.
In a very interesting turn of events last week, Amazon bought video streaming service Twitch for just under a billion dollars. This came as quite a surprise, because for the past several weeks, the prevailing rumor was that Google was buying Twitch for about the same price.
Google buying Twitch made a lot of sense, both from a technology standpoint and a business standpoint. By owning Twitch, they no longer would have to compete with Twitch, and they would have a livestreaming platform to compliment their recorded video platform. Because despite the improvements in Google Hangouts and YouTube livestreaming, Twitch was still way ahead of Google in the livestreaming space.
But with Amazon swooping in and getting Twitch in the eleventh hour, Google went from potentially owning the online video space to facing even stronger competition from one of its biggest rivals, in an area they previously didn’t have to worry about.
That’s a whole other subject, however. Let’s just focus for a moment on what the addition of Twitch could mean for Amazon, and for gamers.
Amazon already has a video on demand service with Amazon Instant Video. Now they have a livestreaming service with over 50 million users, who spend up to two hours a day consuming content. That’s a lot of eyes for Amazon to show ads to, and an added value for their Prime subscription service if they want to offer an an ad-free option.
On the gaming front, anyone who was skeptical when Amazon talked about getting into the gaming space should be a believer by now. They launched a games studio in 2012, created a game controller for their their Kindle Fire TV, and have added asymmetrical co-op features to some of their games, allowing someone with a Kindle Fire HDX tablet to play along with someone using a game controller on the Fire TV. Now they have added the biggest gameplay streaming platform in the world to their ecosystem. And while none of these pieces may fit together perfectly yet, the point is that Amazon now has all of these pieces. They can build games and services moving forward that leverage their devices and their video platforms.
Not to mention, now Twitch has additional resources to continue improving and expanding its core services, and I wouldn’t expect Amazon to screw with what’s working already. They may offer enhanced services to those already participating in the Amazon ecosystem (Prime subscribers and Kindle device owners), but I think those that just want to stream content from their consoles or PCS, or watch streamed content will be able to do so whether they are using Amazon services or not.
Of course, Twitch can stream more than just gameplay, so Amazon now also has another platform to create and distribute original programming to an audience of millions. I could easily imagine the Amazon Weekly Book Club video podcast, or the Amazon Instant Video Picks of the Week show. They could even create programs similar to X-Play and Electric Playground, which would be a perfect fit for the Twitch audience.
So, I’m pretty excited to see what Amazon does moving forward. They said they were jumping into the video game space, and they’ve done just that, in more ways than one.
So, Amazon Fire TV was announced last week, and while it wasn’t the true entry into the gaming console market I hoped it would be, I am still excited about the possibilities that it brings.
For starters, the fact there is a dedicated controller available from day one is a big plus, and a great sign for any potentially interested developers. It opens the door for a variety of older games that require a controller to be made available, as well as providing a roadmap for future games. You can also use any bluetooth controller with the Fire TV, which is huge.
Secondly, the tablet integration with Kindle Fire HDX is interesting, and already being shown of with Sev Zero, the game that comes with the controller. Lots of possibilities there in the future.
What I would love to see though, is Amazon really leverage their partnerships with publishers to get their big chunks of their back libraries on the Fire TV. They mentioned Disney, Gameloft, EA, Sega, Ubisoft and Double Fine already, so there is a lot of potential there.
And that’s really what the Amazon Fire TV is all about right now–potential. With Amazon’s ecosystem, and a growing in-house development studio, Amazon could carve out a nice niche in the micro console market.
This is also a great shot across the bow to Apple, whose fans have been begging them to get into the micro console space for some time.
Since I will not be getting a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One anytime soon, I’ve decided that I want to start streaming some of my PS3 and WiiU gaming on Twitch, and posting some videos to YouTube. This is basically as a warm up for when Dark Souls II arrives in March, as I plan on doing some videos and podcasts of the billion hours I plan on spending with that game. I’m also killing two birds with one stone, as I’ve been unable to pull the crew together for Co-Op Critics podcasts as often as I’d like, and this will provide some additional content to be shared here.
After doing some research, I decided to go with the Roxio Game Capture HD. There are some who prefer the Elgato Game Capture HD, but the Roxio was a bit cheaper and got solid reviews, particularly when it came to the editing software included with the device.
I’ll probably record a bit of Minecraft, Dark Souls and Bioshock Infinite streaming on PS3, and on the WiiU, probably some NES Remix and maybe some older games. Again, I’ll likely skip around, as I want to get used to using the device and the editing software. At some point I’m sure I’ll do an actual playthrough, but I’m not ready for that level of commitment yet.
Is there a particular game that people would like to see me play, hit me up on Twitter @SeeBrianWrite, or leave a comment below.