Natural Doctrine brings tactical role-playing to North America on Sept. 16

Kadokawa Game Studio's tactical role-playing game Natural Doctrine is coming to North America on Sept. 16 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, publisher NIS America announced today.

The game will arrive in Europe three days later on Sept. 19, and pre-orders have opened up for the release on the official NIS America store, including a number of limited edition extras on each platform.

The game is available to pre-order for $60 on PS4 systems, $50 on PS3 systems and $40 on PS Vita, while limited editions are available for an extra $20 on each individual console. Bonuses include an art book, poster and an explorer's bag.
The strategy role-playing game sends players into caves to collect Pluton, described as a coveted material. The game's story focuses on a resource war between goblins, trolls, humans, lizardmen and humanoids.

Kadokawa is probably best known as the publisher behind Lollipop Chainsaw. Natural Doctrine, which launched in Japan earlier this year after a delay, is the company's debut title.

Source: Polygon
 

WWE 2K15's cover stars John Cena — and a new logo

 

The cover of WWE 2K15 features John Cena — and the new logo of the WWE itself.
Cena, who claimed his 15th WWE world championship at Sunday's Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, was revealed as the cover superstar last night on WWE Raw. 2K Sports released the packshot this morning.

The new logo, which will replace the scratched-style logo that has been in use (with modifications) since 1997, will enter use across the entire WWE business in August. It's currently the logo for the new WWE Network, and also was recently used in the logo for Wrestlemania 31.

"It is truly an honor and privilege to serve as the WWE 2K15 cover superstar," Cena said in a prepared statement. "I look forward to carrying the flag for WWE 2K15, and introducing the incredible next generation of WWE gaming to the WWE Universe."

WWE 2K15 will be the second wrestling title published by 2K Sports, who picked up the series following the dissolution of THQ. The game launches on Oct. 28 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Polygon discussed the series' new focus and direction with executive producer Mark Little at E3 2014.

Source: Polygon

FIFA 15 video shows off upgraded weather effects, player models and more

FIFA 15's latest developer diary, released today by publisher Electronic Arts, focuses on the graphical upgrades that developer EA Canada is making in this year's game.

Chief among those improvements is in the player models, with head scans providing higher detail in faces and new animation rigs allowing for more lifelike movement. Uniforms will flutter in the breeze and get dirty over time. Items on the field will also move more realistically — players will no longer ghost through the corner flag, and the goal will move according to how the ball hits it.

The pitch itself will degrade over the course of a match, as footprints and slide tackles leave their mark on the grass. In rainy games, you'll see sprays of water as appropriate. And LED boards throughout stadiums will now animate in real time.

The aforementioned upgrades apply to the current-generation version of FIFA 15, which will be released on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One in standard and Ultimate editions. The game will also be available on Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii and Xbox 360. All versions are set for release Sept. 26.

For more on FIFA 15, check out our comprehensive coverage from E3.

Source: Polygon

Limited-edition Okami art lets you bring Amaterasu into your home

The art of Clover Studio's Okami is one of its most memorable qualities, and boutique art dealership Cook & Becker worked with publisher Capcom to create limited-edition prints of artwork from the cult classic.

Seven prints are available in Cook & Becker's Okami collection, and all are based on original concept art. Some are relatively simple landscapes from the game, such as "Sunset at Kamiki Village"; others, like "Path of Heaven" (above; full image below) are more impressionistic pieces. Prices range from $80 to $115 for the hand-numbered prints, each of which comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Okami was originally released in 2006 on PlayStation 2; it was ported to Wii in 2008 and brought into high definition on PlayStation 3 in 2012. The game's art direction was defined by Takeyasu Sawaki, Kenichiro Yoshimura and Mari Shimazaki. Sawaki also worked on the Devil May Cry series and El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron; Yoshimura and Shimazaki did character designs for Bayonetta.

Amsterdam-based Cook & Becker focuses on digital art, concept art and video game artwork. The company also sells prints from The Last of Us, Mirror's Edge, Journey, Mass Effect and more.

Source: Polygon

Civilization Revolution 2 is designed as a bite-size Civ experience

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution 2 is designed to give players bite-sized Civ rounds that satisfy those quick-fix strategy simulation needs while still delivering a meaty, meaningful experience.

Following in the footsteps of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution – which launched in 2008 for Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and for iOS the following year — Civilization Revolution 2 tasks players with colonizing and civilizing their own nation, conquering other nations as they advance from primitive times through the industrial era and beyond. Like its predecessor, the game involves historical figures in players' plights, including Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi and Napoleon. This time around, however, there are some new faces for players to conquer or befriend, like John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill.
 

Developer 2K China — original Civ developer Firaxis games is providing "constant support and input" for the title — is also promising to release additional map sections and civilization leaders through the App Store. Players will have the option to purchase these characters and areas and add them to their game, although doing so is purely cosmetic.

But Revolution 2 has been made specifically for iOS, and is designed as a quick, portable fix for series veterans, as well as an easy entry point for newcomers. An entire game, from first colonization all the way up to cultural victory, can be played in just around an hour.

Perhaps the biggest feature making Revolution 2 an easy first title for Civ newbies is its simplified user interface. With a finger tap, players can pull up their cities, moving settlers and resources. Within city submenus, players can select what to build and spend money on from a line of tiles on the right side of the scene. Swiping will scroll down the list, where players can select from different types of solders and war machines like catapults, buildings like grain silos and libraries. Players can also build Natural Wonders — structures like the Library of Alexandria and the Taj Mahal — which give players cultural points towards winning the game.

Not only are menus streamlined to show players all the details they need upfront to make informed decisions, but notifications that pop up during turns do this as well. In my hands-on time with the game, during one of my skirmishes fighting against a minor barbarian village, I succeeded only to have a group of settlers pop up. These settlers I could then move anywhere with fertile lands and have them build a new city. Small icons around the settlers and on the side of the screen quickly indicated to me, through tiny pictures, that I could either move these settlers along or have them stay where they were and build a new city. I chose the latter, setting up a brand new region for my people to produce military works.




The rest of the game will be familiar to Civ players — the cycle of creating, conquering and controlling the world continues. To better let players observe what happens, Revolution 2's world is displayed in 3D and at a slight angle, rather than straight top-down. This lets players watch horsemen take down archers on foot, or trace the path of individual units across various parts of the map. The presentation is very bright, with loads of color and sound to accompany players' actions.

While the original Civilization Revolution hit consoles first, Revolution 2 associate producer Adam Plotkin said that there are no plans to launch the title on consoles or PC at this time. According the Plotkin, the reasoning behind the mobile-only launch lies with wanting to bring a tailored Civ experience to the mobile space.

"The success of Civilization Revolution on iOS was undeniable, and we wanted to cater to that audience by providing them with an updated experience that truly takes advantage of the mobile platform's capabilities," Plotkin said. "Right now, we are only focused on making Civilization Revolution 2 a successful mobile game."

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution 2 will launch on July 2 for $14.99 and is compatible with iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The title will be released later for Android devices.

Source: Polygon

Grand Theft Auto Online adds 10 verified jobs

Ten new verified jobs have been added to Grand Theft Auto Online, Rockstar Games announced, including races, deathmatches and captures fit for the game's recent "I'm Not a Hipster" update.

The jobs are "Holy Drift Mountain," "Far Out LOOP," "Maze Bank Fight," "Hipster Happy Hour," "Shopping Spree," "Mario's Race," "Quarantine," (pictured above) "Obstacle What?" "Rattlesnake Run" and "Sonuva Beach." All of these missions have been created by members of the Grand Theft Auto Online community.

When Rockstar verifies a job, it becomes available for the game on both platforms, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
 

Source: Polygon

Rookie quarterback turns to Madden to prepare for NFL training camp

Teddy Bridgewater, drafted at the end of the first round by the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, has until July 25 before training camp officially begins. He's getting ready, ESPN reports, by importing the Vikings' playbook into Madden NFL 25 and using the video game to prepare for opposing defenses.
"It helps because you get one more rep than you had in practice, actual practice," he told ESPN, calling the plays "virtual reps."

"Any chance you get to take an extra rep or go the extra step, extra mile, it's going to be very beneficial transferring it to the field," he said.

At the University of Louisville, Bridgewater did the same thing with NCAA Football 14 — presumably with "himself" on the roster. (He could get a check somewhere north of $1,000 for his three appearances, as "QB#05" in that game, thanks to settlements EA Sports and the NCAA reached with current and former college players.)

Bridgewater is neither the first nor the only NFL figure to use Madden to prepare or credit it with his development. Margus Hunt, an Estonian and currently a second-year defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals, said he taught himself how to play American football with Madden. And Raheem Morris, the former head coach of Tampa Bay (and currently an assistant with Washington) said he "majored in Madden" in college, saying it helped him develop his coaching philosophy today.

Madden NFL 15, with a renewed focus on defensive playability, arrives Aug. 26 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. For more, see Polygon's E3 preview.

Source: Polygon

Gran Turismo 6 will get an update 'almost' every month, not DLC

Gran Turismo 6 is not meant to get downloadable content every month, but an update "almost" every month, Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi said during a recent AMA on Reddit. 

The clarification was in response to questions of receiving monthly DLC cars and tracks. Yamauchi said that on average, the dev is "going through" one-to-two updates per month.

"I don't think I have broken any promises," Yamauchi said. "I think somewhere along the lines someone may have contorted my words. When you talk about things like Vision Gran Turismo as an example, we have over 30 cars that are going to be involved in that project and that was to be included in a year's time. So when you look at it, my saying that there would be content released almost every month is not too far from the truth.

"But the Vision Gran Turismo cars, each car is made with great care at each of the manufacturers, and we can't control when those cars can be completed. So I ask for your understanding."
The developer added that a major sound update will be coming in Gran Turismo 7, not 6, and players shouldn't expect those improvements with the game's July update.

You can check out the full AMA on Reddit. Gran Turismo 6 launched for PlayStation 3 last December. For more on the game, check out our review.

Source: Polygon

No Man's Sky video recounts the history of Hello Games

 

No Man's Sky is by far the most ambitious project yet from Hello Games, and studio co-founder Sean Murray sat down with the PlayStation Blog recently to explain how the company got to this point.

Prior to working on No Man's Sky, Hello Games developed four titles in the Joe Danger series — Joe Danger, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, Joe Danger Touch and Joe Danger Infinity. According to Murray, he and three other members of the studio sequestered themselves within the office starting in mid-2013 and began working on No Man's Sky, the idea for which he's had since he was a child. Science fiction novels served as a major inspiration for the game.

The universe of No Man's Sky is a hostile place for the player; Murray made it clear that although it looks beautiful, "It isn't just some ambient utopia." That universe will hold numerous players at once, each of whom will start on their own unique planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. The fiction of No Man's Sky will give players a compelling reason to venture inward, said Murray, and in order to make the journey, they'll have to construct a ship and upgrade its capabilities as they progress through the game.

There's one overall goal that Hello Games has for players, Murray explained.
"They will think, 'I started out with the smallest, crappiest ship you could imagine, and I got to a point where I could get to the center of the galaxy and see what was there.' And we want that to be significant," said Murray.

No Man's Sky is in development on PlayStation 4 and has no release date. For more, check out our comprehensive coverage from E3 2014.

Gran Turismo 7 unlikely to hit this year, but here are some of Polyphony's plans

Gran Turismo 7 will likely not be released this year, but developer Polyphony Digital plans to keep around cars that have been present in the series since the PlayStation 2 era,  producer and Polyphony CEO Kazunori Yamauchi told Eurogamer.

Last year, shortly before the launch of Gran Turismo 6 on PlayStation 3, Yamauchi told Top Gear that the following franchise title could hit as early as this year, with a 2014 release the "best-case scenario." However, Yamauchi recently stated that although development on the game is underway, a 2014 launch looks unlikely.

"We are working on the title," he said. "I don't think it'll make this year!"

Yamauchi also confirmed that there won't be a Gran Turismo 7 Prologue — a small-scale "teaser" version of the game released ahead of the full game for Gran Turismo 4 and 5 — and Polyphony is still working to overhaul all audio for Gran Turismo 6 and its successor. In a recent Reddit AMA, Yamauchi stated that this audio update would be coming with GT7 and not to expect it with the July update to GT6. The seventh installment will also keep the standard set of car models that have been featured in the games for the past ten years.

"I doubt that we'll be throwing away the standard cars," Yamauchi explained. "Each car has its own fans. So I think we'll hang on to the archive. In the meanwhile, some of those cars we may be able to make into Premium cars as they become available — but basically we're more focussed on increasing the number of premium cars."

But while Gran Turismo will likely keep the same suite of cars, its track selections will continue to evolve — namely, include both replications of real-world tracks and original, Polyphony-created fantasy tracks.

"Though I think real, existing tracks are important, I also think that fully designed tracks are also very interesting and have their own place so I think that's something to look for in GT7," he said.

Yamauchi also briefly mentioned in the AMA that he is "not pleased with the current rendition" of the series' photo mode, and that for the PlayStation 4 version he is hoping push the feature to its limits.

"I know how good it was in Gran Turismo 4, but it just so happened that the architecture of the PS3 wasn't really suited for this feature," he said. "But in PS4, I'm going to try to make sure that there's a photo mode that can satisfy any connoisseur of photography and you can really look forward to that — because as a photographer, I'm really not satisfied with what we have yet.

"So regarding the next generation PS4 and beyond, there's always ongoing research going forward at Polyphony Digital and Sony," he added of the studio's approach to new games in teh series. "There might be some technologies that may change the world and until recently I was thinking that video games might reach a saturation point but I found out that there's much more to come and much more to look forward to in terms of technology of the future — not that I can discuss any details right now."

Gran Turismo 6 launched last December exclusively for PS3. Check out our review for more details.

Source: Polygon