Surprisingly As soon as I booted upPlants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare(published byElectronic Arts) for the first time, I saw that there was a currency system. But before I could groan, I found that there was no way to purchase said currency by way of microtransactions. That’s right —Garden Warfarewon’t launch with them. Phew! Speaking to GameSpot, PopCap producer Brian Lindley confirmed this outright saying, “we’re not going to have any microtransactions at all at launch....

And an open-source server to boot Last year, Riot GamesacquiredRising Thunderdeveloper Radiant Entertainment. Following that move, the promising robot fighting game was never finished and the team shifted its resources toward another project. It was a bittersweet note to end on, but the story isn’t over just yet. Radiant plans to releaseRising Thunder: Community Editionfor free in January. “Our intent here is to give the game back to you guys, the community, and let you run with it,”the studio wrote....

Key change Thelast time we sawRock Band VR, the best summary of the experience was a simple “Well, it’sRock Band, but in VR.” Six months later, that’s no longer the case. Not even close, actually. Harmonix has completely reworked the game, to the point where the guitar and the headset are the only things the two versions have in common. This new take onRock Band VRtrades the series’ signature note highway for something more creatively interpretive....

Hunting down superbosses in JRPGs is a hobby of mine, andSuper Mario RPG‘sCulexremains one of my all-time favorites. Brilliantly hidden within one of the cutest areas of the game, Culex was a formidable, all-new optional boss modeled after aFinal Fantasyfoe. He is unassuming at first, then lets loose his full power if you decide to fight him. Alongside of, well,most ofSuper Mario RPG,it’s one of the most memorable gaming moments in my gaming career....

So you can’t blame the game if your aim is off Cannons sometimes have a mind of their own inSea of Thieves— at least, they did. With today’s update, Rare fixed an irksome bug that occasionally caused players to “travel in unintended directions” when fired out of cannons, as well as a similar issue that led “muffled cannon audio to persist.” This footage captured by YouTube userFuriousVikingshows how annoying the bug could be:...

I just received word from a source of mine that SNK Playmore, the Neo-Geo creator responsible for such classic titles asThe King of FightersandMetal Slug, will soon be closing its doors, at least in the US. This summer, the company will officially cease direct sale of its games and will instead see distribution duties go to Ignition USA. In 2001, the original incarnation of SNK closed as well, with company founder Eikichi Kawasaki investing in a new company known as Playmore....

Move along, nothing to see here Thanks to Walmart’s new online price matching, some customers were recently able to set up phony third-party listings on Amazon.com and convince the retailer to honor totally ridiculous discounts. For instance, how does a PlayStation 4 for under $100 sound? Deal of the year? I wouldn’t know, and now I’ll never know. Understandably, Walmart has since revised itsprice-matching policy, noting that it “can’t tolerate fraud or attempts to trick our cashiers....

You’ll need an Xbox Live account for cross-play It’s exciting to see the name “Xbox Game Studios”pop up on Steamin any form, fromHalo: The Master Chief CollectiontoAge of Empires II: Definitive EditiontoGears 5. I hope it keeps up. Today, we’ve got another Xbox One and Windows 10 PC game for that also-available-on-Steam list:State of Decay 2. Undead Labs’ co-op zombie survival game is shambling over toSteam. The best bit? There’s cross-play support for co-op....

We’ve only just had a Steam event and now another one is on the way. Get ready for the Steam Visual Novel Fest, a celebration of games that put a lot of emphasis on story and narrative. In a recent video uploaded to the SteamYouTube channel(with a few details over on theSteam websiteitself), there’s a brief run down on what the fest will feature. For a whole week starting August 7, you’ll be treated to a host of visual novel-style games, which includes discounts and demos....

And no, it hasn’t been delayed Striking Distance Studios is confirming that yes, it still plans to releaseThe Callisto Protocolon December 2. And whenThe Callisto Protocolarrives, it will have a 60 FPS performance mode option. The survival-horror game was recently displayed with a February 12 date on the Epic Games Store, as reported byTheGamer. However, in anew tweet, Striking Distance confirms it’s still on track for December 2. In the same tweet, the dev confirms thatThe Callisto Protocolwill ship with a 60 FPS performance mode....

BIG difference The entire point of the PlayStation 4 remake ofShadow of the Colossusis so that developer Bluepoint can overhaul the visuals (although there is also a new control scheme). That’s why it shouldn’t surprise you that the opening cinematic looks very good. But it does and here we are. For posterity’s sake, here’s the intro on PS2: Accompanying the video is some developer commentary where they explain that it looks better because Bluepoint remade all the assets from scratch rather than remastering them....

But why? They’ll tell you why The Wii U still isn’t in a good spot with third parties. There’s a running gag in the industry that something is coming to “every console ever…except!” and everyone chimes in “the Wii U.” It’s a shame, because it’s currently my favorite console, hardware and controller-wise. Strangely enough the PS3 has been snubbed recently as well from Ubisoft, as the racerThe Crewis now slated to arrive on November 11 on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PC....

Famous author making a macabre adventure game releasing this year Award-winning author Neil Gaiman, perhaps known as much for his graphic novels (Sandman) as his novels (American Gods,Coraline), is branching into videogames with the help of The Odd Gentleman, makers of the excellentThe Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Wayward Manor, more or less an adventure game, pits you as a ghost attempting to clear the spooky, Gothic manor of its colorful cast of inhabitants during the Roaring Twenties....