Everyone's favorite hooved menace is back on mobile with the launch of Goat Simulator 3 for iOS and Android, Swedish developer Coffee Stain Studios announced. As before, you play in an open world as a mayhem-loving goat in order to cause maximum chaos and ruin the day of as many NPC's as possible. The latest version dials up the destruction with accessories like jetpacks, rocket launchers and supercharged headbutts, while letting you kit out your goats with dubious fashion accessories.
The mobile versions offers much the same feature set found on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, particularly the co-op multiplayer support. Other mobile features include multiple goat options (tall, fishy, with hats), an "OK amount" of quests in the open world, mini-games, "ragdoll physics that slap Newton in the face" and more, according to the Play Store listing.
Goat Simulator famously started as a jokey demo for Global Game Jam 2014, replete with bugs, bizarre physics and just a weird, weird concept. Herds of players loved the alpha version, though, so Coffee Stain elected to release it as a full game, leaving in the floppy necks, intersecting meshes and ability to use your goat's tongue to walk up construction cranes somehow.
Goat Simulator 3 is actually the second game in the series (the developer famously skipped over 2), appearing last year a full eight years after the original. The original version appeared shortly after the alpha, and basically left most of the bugs in — part of the charm, or terribleness of the game, depending on your point of view.
It turns out that "buggy and stupid" is hard to do on purpose though, as GS3's creative director put it, hence the long delay. In any case, it's now available on Android and iOS for $13 — not that cheap for a mobile game.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/goat-simulator-3s-headbutting-mayhem-finally-arrives-to-mobile-111553057.html?src=rss
Naughty Dog is giving The Last Of Us Part 2 more than just a fresh lick of paint in a PS5 remaster of the game. The upcoming version includes a playable mode called Lost Levels (which features several segments that were cut from the final game), as well as one called No Return. The latter is an all-new roguelike survival mode and Sony has revealed more details about it in a trailer.
In this single-player mode, the aim is to survive as long as you can. You'll need to stay on your toes as the encounters with enemies are randomized and feature boss battles. You'll have to contend with unique gameplay modifiers too, such as setting enemies ablaze when you punch them or visual effects being applied. I'd actually advise against watching the trailer if you haven't played through the main game yet, as it spoils a few of the more fearsome enemies you'll come up against.
In No Return, you'll be able to play as Ellie, Joel and Abby. On top of those, you'll be able to take on the guise of several unlockable characters that haven't been playable before. Per the trailer, those are Dina, Jesse, Tommy, Lev, Yara, Mel and Manny. Every character has unique traits that support different playstyles. Pick Yara, for instance, and her brother Lev will help her out in combat (a co-op version of No Return could be pretty compelling!). Dina, meanwhile, will be able to craft trap mines and stun bombs.
You'll unlock more characters, skins, weapons (and weapon upgrades) and levels as you progress through No Return. While it strikes me as somewhat odd to introduce an infinitely replayable survival mode to a game in which the core theme is ending the perpetual cycle of violence, TLOU 2's combat is exceptional. No Return should let the combat mechanics shine without players needing to worry too much about remaining stealthy.
The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered will hit PS5 on January 19. Those who own the original PS4 version of TLOU 2 will be able to upgrade for $10.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastereds-no-return-trailer-reveals-all-the-playable-characters-160325747.html?src=rss
Rockstar has released the trailer of Grand Theft Auto VI, the next game in the blockbuster video game franchise a day earlier than expected. Unfortunately you'll have to wait until at least some point in 2025 to play it.
It's been a decade since Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V. While fans have been more than able to keep themselves busy with GTA Online and a few re-releases, they've been waiting patiently (or impatiently) for more single-player action. The wait now has a theoretical end with Rockstar revealing the first official look at the game and a 2025 release window.
As indicated by a recent teaser image, leaks and various rumors, GTA VI will be set in Leonida, Rockstar's take on Florida, and largely centered on Vice City, the series' stand in for Miami. Given that the trailer features a ton of Instagram-style live streaming, GTA VI seems to be a contemporary game, rather than one set in the '80s like 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It remains to be seen if those streams are an integral game mechanic, purely narrative tool or just an aesthetic choice for the trailer, though.
It also appears that the game will have a playable female character, Lucia, for the first time in the modern incarnation of the franchise, just as the rumors predicted. Other highlights of the trailer include Florida's swampy Everglades National Park, an airboat, some wildlife and, of course, a strip club.
There's almost zero detail about the broader story of GTA VI, other than Lucia being in prison, presumably at the start of the game. But there are plenty of glimpses of the kind of shenanigans you'll be able to get up to, including your usual robberies and car chases. There's also brief shot of an alligator wandering into gas station store — gut instinct says your character might be behind that. Unfortunately it'll be over a year before we know for sure.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rockstar-just-released-a-trailer-for-grand-theft-auto-vi-233306692.html?src=rss
The Game Awards got it wrong this year. One of the titles nominated for Best Independent Game, Dave the Diver, was produced by Nexon, one of the largest video game studios in South Korea. No matter how hard you squint, it is not indie. Dave the Diver is an excellent pixel-art game about deep-sea fishing and restaurant management, but it was commissioned and bankrolled by Nexon subsidiary Mintrocket, with billions of dollars and decades of experience at its back.
When The Game Awards nominees were announced on November 13, fans were quick to point out the error, and the recurring debate over what “indie” means was reignited. Taehwan Kim, Nexon’s overseer of Mintrocket, weighed in on November 14, saying Dave the Diver “may look like an indie, but it's not necessarily the case.” The official tweet listing the nominees for Best Independent Game now carries a reader-generated context tag reading, “Dave the Diver is not an indie game. Mintrocket, the game's developer, is a subsidiary of Korea's biggest game company Nexon. They are not independent in any sense of the word.”
Nexon
A discussion around the definition of “indie” bubbled up throughout November, but it raised more questions than it answered. One common conclusion was that the media outlets who voted Dave the Diver into the independent category were fooled by its pixel art, a style that’s associated with indie games. During a live Q&A on Twitch on November 26, The Game Awards organizer Geoff Keighley argued that “independent” was a broad term with an unknowable definition, before essentially saying Dave the Diver’s inclusion in the indie category was the jury’s fault.
Specifically, Keighley said the following: “It’s independent in spirit and [it’s] a small game with a, I don’t know what the budget is, but it's probably a relatively small-budget game. But it is from a larger entity, whereas there are other games on that list that are from much smaller studios. Even like Dredge I think is published by Team17, so is that independent or not because you have a publisher? It’s a really complicated thing to figure out and come up with strict rules around it, so kinda we let people use their best judgment. And you can agree or disagree with the choices, but the fact that Dave the Diver was on that list meant that, out of all the independent games the jury looked at, or what they thought were independent games, that was one of the top five they looked at this year.”
The jury comprises 120 media outlets (Engadget has traditionally been one of these, but we did not participate in voting this year and look what happened), so Keighley is chalking the mistake up to mass hysteria and moving on. Meanwhile, there’s still little consensus on what constitutes an indie game, at The Game Awards or elsewhere.
Nexon
I’ve reported on video games for 13 years and indies are a central theme of my coverage. I ran The Joystiq Indie Pitch back in the day, and I’ve made a concerted effort to write about smaller games from creators working outside of the mainstream machine, because these are the experiences that speak to me personally. The indie scene is the source of the industry’s magic. This isn’t just a debate about language — “indie” is a distinction that identifies which games and teams need outside support to survive and expand on their innovations. Understanding the label can help players make decisions about where to spend their money, the lifeblood of any game-development studio.
All that to say, the debate over the definition of “indie” is not new, but it is constantly changing, and it’s something I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating. So, I’m here to offer guidance on the question of what makes an indie game or studio indie. It is a weirdly complicated topic and my approach is one of many, but the loose framework I use could help resolve some common, recurring arguments.
Basically — it’s all about the system, man.
I’m joking, but also I’m not. Generally, when I’m trying to decide whether something is actually indie, I rotate through three questions:
Is the team on the mainstream system’s payroll?
Is the game or team owned by a platform holder?
Do the artists have creative control?
The first question is about identifying where a studio’s money is coming from and what kind of support a game has outside of sales. If a team is wholly owned by another company of any size, it is not indie. We’re not talking about publishing deals; this opening question is about acquisitions or subsidiaries of bigger studios. Dave the Diver is a prime example here — it’s developed by Mintrocket, a subsidiary of Nexon that was created just to develop more contained, experimental games for the publisher. Dave the Diver is definitely not indie, and we’re only on question one.
The second query feeds into the first, and it’s helpful in making fine distinctions about games that exist in gray areas. What about something like Cyberpunk 2077? It’s a big-budget game built by CD Projekt RED (CDPR) — a studio that, at first glance, seems like it could be indie. However, there are two factors that take it out of the running for me. First, CD Projekt, the umbrella organization that supports CDPR’s game-making, is a publicly traded company with shareholders and a board to answer to. Second, CD Projekt is the owner of GOG, a distribution hub that allows the studio to sell its own games and DLC outside of Steam and the Epic Games Store. This ability to sell directly to players at massive scale takes CD Projekt out of the indie realm. Generally, companies with the most influence and money are console makers and platform holders like Valve, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games, Ubisoft, EA, and, yes, CD Projekt. They are the AAA system, and anything they own is not indie.
Nexon
Lastly, on to publishers. Sorry, Keighley, but securing a publisher has very little to do with whether a game is indie nowadays. We’re blessed in 2023 to have a thriving indie industry constantly pushing against the AAA complex with different goals, more diverse voices and a broader sense of innovation — and publishing is a big part of this system. Today, indie-focused publishers (of which there are many) tend to include clauses that protect a developer’s creative vision, preventing the larger company from interfering with artistic decisions and keeping the game indie to the core. Once upon a time, it might’ve made sense to only consider self-published games indie, but that era is long gone.
The indie scene has evolved massively since the early 2010s, when games like Braid, Super Meat Boy and Fez were carving out the market’s modern form. Back then, self-publishing was all the rage for independent developers because it was often their only option, and as a result there were more distinct lines between AAA, AA and indie games. Devolver Digital found its first breakout hit as an indie publisher with Hotline Miami in 2012, and that’s around the time the floodgates opened. In 2014, as the industry’s largest companies started funding and publishing programs for them, the number of indie games skyrocketed across platforms including Steam (remember Greenlight?), the App Store, Xbox, PlayStation and Ouya (RIP).
Today, indie games come standard on every console. There are multiple indie-focused publishers, including Devolver, Annapurna Interactive, Panic, Raw Fury, Team17 and Netflix, and most of them offer complete creative freedom as a main selling point. Meanwhile, platform holders like Sony and Xbox are hungry to sign distribution deals with developers of all sizes in an effort to score exclusives and pad their streaming libraries. It’s the most stable (and crowded) the indie scene has ever been. Having a publisher has no bearing on whether a game is indie.
Being owned by a publisher, however, changes everything (see question one). This is more of a concern than ever, as platform holders like Microsoft, Sony and Epic Games have recently been buying studios they like, no matter their size. Hell, even Devolver has dipped its toes in the acquisition pond recently — which, yeah, means those teams are no longer indie.
Nexon
The “indie” label is transitory. Certain studios can be indie but an individual game may not be, and plenty of small companies flow between states as they age and take advantage of growth opportunities. Bungie, for example, started out as an independent outfit, then it was absorbed by the AAA complex under Xbox, and then it broke free and was briefly indie again, before Sony pulled it back into the mainstream system’s cold embrace.
So, yeah, that's my way of determining if a game or studio is indie. By all means, take my triplet of questions and have fun trying to break the logic — it probably won't take long. There is no perfect structure here and there are plenty of outliers within my own framework. Alan Wake II, according to my questions, would be considered an indie game — but its developer, Remedy Entertainment, is a publicly traded company, which brings shareholders and a board of directors. This pushes the studio and the game into The System for me, but honestly, I’m still unsure about those labels as I type this. That’s OK — when all else fails, look inside your game-loving soul and ask, can this team exist without my support? (Alan Wake II, for what it’s worth, is a delicious and unique experience that’s worth playing, regardless of your feelings on Remedy's shareholders).
Does Mintrocket need my support to keep Dave the Diver and its creative team going? Probably not, and definitely not in the same way as Larian Studios, the independent developer and publisher of Baldur’s Gate 3. Baldur’s Gate 3 is an excellent, expansive 3D adventure from an indie studio and it’s up for Game of the Year at The Game Awards, but it was snubbed in the Best Independent Game category. Meanwhile, Dave the Diver, a cute title backed by billions of dollars, is up for the indie award, but not Game of the Year. It seems like The Game Awards jury made the classic mistake of seeing pixel art and immediately calling it indie. That’s an unforced error, but it reveals one point where we can all agree:
Indie is not an aesthetic.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-game-awards-raises-an-old-question-what-does-indie-mean-205211035.html?src=rss
One of the major concessions Microsoft made to regulators to get its blockbuster acquisition of Activision Blizzard over the line was agreeing to let users of third-party cloud services stream Xbox-owned games. Starting today, you can play three Call of Duty games via NVIDIA GeForce Now: Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone.
They're the first Activision games to land on GeForce Now since Microsoft closed the $68.7 billion Activision deal in October. Activision Blizzard games were previously available on GeForce Now but only briefly, as the publisher pulled them days after the streaming service went live for all users in early 2020.
Microsoft first made its first-party games available on GeForce Now this year, beginning with Gears 5 in May. More recently, Microsoft started allowing GeForce Now users to stream PC Game Pass titles and Microsoft Store purchases.
Call of Duty titles are major additions, though, especially since that means Warzone fans can play the battle royale on their phone or tablet wherever they are without having to pay anything extra (free GeForce Now users are limited to one hour of gameplay per session). If you've bought MW2 or MW3 on Steam, you can play those through GeForce Now as well. NVIDIA notes that older CoD titles will be available through GeForce Now later.
Another key concession Microsoft made to appease UK regulators was to sell the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft. However, as evidenced here, Microsoft will still honor the agreements it made directly with various cloud gaming services.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-games-start-landing-on-nvidia-geforce-now-195040692.html?src=rss
Redditor yeldellmedia recently showed off footage showing what a first-person version of Super Mario 64 might look like using the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality system. It looks like a good time. Will Nintendo actually make a VR version of a Mario game? Probably not until they develop their own VR headset, and it becomes the must-have but impossible-to-get toy for like three Christmases in a row.
In the video on Reddit, you can see the player in front of Princess Peach’s castle wandering around and interacting with objects, including Mario’s hat. Unfortunately, in its current state, not all of the in-game objects are interactive yet, so it’s more just imagining what the game might look like.
Would I live in a virtual reality version of the Mushroom Kingdom? There’s no question. Of course, they would need to mod the game further to include a snack bar and toilet in every other level so I don’t forget to eat and go to the bathroom in real life. Otherwise, I might find myself crouching over a warp pipe to do my business, and knowing my luck, it would be a pipe inhabited by a piranha plant.
Netflix continues to bet big on gaming. The streamer just announced that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Editionwill hit its platform on December 14. The game will be free to play for Netflix subscribers, like the rest of its library. Each of the three titles included in the collection have been updated for mobile. These games include the iconic Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. They'll be playable via the Netflix app, but also available as standalone apps on Android and iOS.
The gameplay’s a bit dated by modern standards but Grand Theft Auto III basically invented the open-world genre, and the sequels further refined the model. Many players actually point to San Andreas as being a high watermark for the series, even outpacing more recent titles. In any event, this trilogy can hold you over until the eventual release of Grand Theft Auto VI. To that end, the forthcoming Rockstar sequel should be getting a trailer any day now.
Netflix has been snagging all kinds of games for its ever-growing library, from the massively popular roguelike Hades to the equally popular, uh, roguelike Dead Cells. The platform’s library also includes Braid, Death’s Door, Katana Zero and other hit indies.
The company’s also developing its own games, thanks to snatching up developer Night School, the team behind Oxenfree and Afterparty. This acquisition has already borne fruit, as Oxenfree II: Lost Signals released earlier this year to wide acclaim. Incidentally, the sequel isn’t stuck on Netflix, as it’s also available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5 and PC via Steam. So the streamer might not be using games as just a way to lure in new subscribers. Netflix could be in it for the long haul.
Beyond Oxenfree II, other original games to hit the platform include Slayaway Camp 2: Netflix & Kill and a whole lot of titles based on pre-existing TV shows. There’s a game based on the recently-canceled fantasy epic Shadow and Bone and forthcoming titles inspired by Money Heist and The Dragon Prince, among others.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-adding-the-gta-trilogy-to-its-games-library-on-december-14-190357966.html?src=rss
Sony has revealed the PlayStation Plus monthly games lineup for December, and it’s a doozy. There’s no clear headliner here, but a trio of interesting games are about to drop, including the gorgeous open-world exploration game Sable and the cleaning-based tour de force Powerwash Simulator.
First up, there’s Sable, a game that was on everyone’s radar for years before an official release, thanks to the eye-catching graphical style. The "coming-of-age adventure and exploration game” casts you as the titular hero Sable as you ride a hoverbike through vast deserts and mysterious landscapes, encountering the remains of spaceships and other ancient artifacts. The art style is incredible and the soundtrack is by Japanese Breakfast, if that’s your bag (and it should be.) The game’s only available for PS5.
Powerwash Simulator, as the name suggests, is a cleaning sim that has you clearing grime from just about anything you can think of, from Back to the Future’s Delorean to Final Fantasy VII’s Midgar. Most of the game, however, takes place in the town of Muckingham and boasts plenty of upgrade options for your power washer and the ability to play with friends via online co-op. The gameplay is relaxing, though more complex than it lets on at first. It’s available for both PS4 and PS5.
Finally, there’s Lego 2K Drive. This is an open-world driving game comprised entirely of Lego vehicles. There are races just about everywhere you look and, of course, the ability to make your own vehicles by connecting virtual blocks. There’s local couch co-op and online play, with the latter allowing access to the entire game map. Both PS4 and PS5 players can access this game.
It’s also worth noting that some games are about to leave the service, so get those downloads ready. PlayStation Plus members have until December 4 to snag Mafia II: Definitive Edition, Dragon Ball: The Breakers and Aliens Fireteam Elite.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/decembers-playstation-plus-monthly-games-include-sable-and-powerwash-simulator-174319553.html?src=rss
There are tons of great gaming deals floating around this Cyber Monday but few are better than one we've spotted for the Xbox Series X. After you apply a $49 coupon at Amazon, Microsoft's most powerful gaming console is available for $400. That's a record low price for the system — you could even put the savings toward a few months of Game Pass access. You'll probably need to act quickly if you're interested, though. There's no telling when this deal will vanish.
Along with the PlayStation 5 (which has its own Cyber Monday Deals), the Xbox Series X is your top choice for a current game console. There are a few factors to consider when buying a gaming system. If you need something more portable, a Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck is the way to go. If you prefer Sony's formula of polished single-player adventures like The Last of Us or Spider-Man, the PlayStation 5 is likely your best option. Still, it's hard to beat the combination of power, 4K gaming, game library and price that the Xbox Series X offers.
The value of an Xbox Series X gets even better if you have an Xbox Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Xbox Game Pass ($11 per month) grants you access to a vast library of games on your console, including third-party titles. You'll be able to play every first-party game at no extra cost on its release day too. Game Pass Ultimate ($17 per month) adds online multiplayer and access to the PC Game Pass library, Xbox Cloud Gaming and EA Play (i.e. an extra batch of games from that publisher).
Xbox Game Pass includes hundreds of titles from major first-party games like the Halo series, Starfield, Minecraft, Doom Eternal and Forza Horizon 5 to stellar indies such as Hollow Knight, Jusant, Celeste and Cocoon. There are plenty of big-time third-party games available through the subscription too, including Assassin’s Creed Origins, Mortal Kombat 11, Madden NFL 23 and Grand Theft Auto V.
Best of all, you won't need to wait for those to download to your Xbox Series X if you have a Game Pass Ultimate subscription. You can check many of them out via cloud streaming to decide whether it's worth downloading them.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cyber-monday-deal-brings-the-xbox-series-x-down-to-a-record-low-of-400-on-amazon-185303684.html?src=rss
The PlayStation 5 has been around for three years, if you can believe that. If you don't already have Sony's current console, there are some solid deals that might tempt you to take the plunge. The system is $50 off at GameStop with some caveats, but if you're planning to play Marvel's Spider-Man 2 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, there are bundles at Amazon that might make more sense for you. You can buy the new, slimmer PS5 model and either game for $499. In other words, you'll be getting a $70 game you might have already been planning to check out for free.
While many folks found it difficult to get their hands on the PS5 during the console's first couple of years, Sony has smoothed out the supply issues. Both the standard and all-digital versions of the console are readily available. Sony released updated models that are slimmer and lighter earlier this month.
The PS5 is a great console and an excellent entry point for those looking to get into modern gaming. It's certainly a worthwhile upgrade from the PlayStation 4 at this point. While we've seen many major games hit both PS4 and PS5 over the last few years, publishers and developers are making more titles exclusive to the current generation of consoles.
Sony's current system has a fantastic controller in the DualSense. When a game embraces the feature fully, the vibrations of the haptic feedback add an extra level of immersion. A high-end version of the controller is available for serious competitive players, while the highly customizable, accessibility minded Access controller will be available in December.
The PS5 is capable of delivering impressive visuals at framerates of up to 120 fps. While the library of games perhaps wasn't the most enticing at the outset, there's now a ton of great titles available for the console (nearly every PS4 game is playable on PS5 too).
On that note, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is an excellent followup to the previous games in the series, Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. You'll switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales as the two superheroes attempt to (what else?) stop bad guys with nefarious plans. Hot tip: don't skip the side missions. These include some truly lovely stories and they offer a nice break from the main missions.
As for Modern Warfare 3, the campaign is underbaked, but let's face it: you're probably more likely to be interested in the multiplayer and/or zombies modes. Multiplayer has a major nostalgia factor as it includes all of the launch maps from 2009's original Modern Warfare 2. In addition, for the first time in the Call of Duty series, almost all of your gear will carry over from last year's game, the rebooted Modern Warfare 2.
Meanwhile, if you'd prefer just to have a discount on the standard PS5 model, you can snap one up from GameStop for $450, or $50 off. There are a few things to keep in mind here. The discount is for the original, beefier model and it only applies if you opt for same-day delivery ($13) or in-store pick up (in which case GameStop will give you another $5 off). As such, you'll need to be close enough to a GameStop to be eligible.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ps5-cyber-monday-sale-2023-deals-on-a-console-bundle-with-marvels-spider-man-2-included-173911763.html?src=rss
