All Rockband 3 DLC now available free for Rockband 4 launch
Harmonix has announced that they have carried over nearly 1700 songs from previous Rockband 3 DLC for Rockband 4 on both Xbox One and PS4. Any of the songs you have already purchased will be available for free on download as long as you keep them in the same console family. If you haven’t already purchased the songs, you will still be able to buy any of the tracks but the sale price is no longer in effect. As the studio states, it’s been three years since each track has been $.99 and they are now returning to their full price of $1.99. All of the song packs are also going back to full price as well with varying prices depending on the pack. You can redownload them through both the Xbox and PlayStation store and full directions can be found over on the Harmonix blog. Rockband 4 releases October 6th, 2015 only on Xbox One and PS4. Harmonix
Microsoft has acquired Intel company Havok
According to a recent report, Microsoft has acquired Havok from Intel who has owned the company for the last nine years. Havok works with all three major platform holders in Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo through use of their physics engine which serves as their bread and butter. The engine is used in sports game and such as it takes the body language of the character, locomotion and environment and uses them to formulate collisions in real time using the data in a 3D environment. Microsoft commented on the acquisition by saying “As we welcome Havok to the Microsoft family, we will continue to work with developers to create great gaming experiences, and continue to license Havok’s development tools to partners. We believe that Havok is a fantastic addition to Microsoft’s existing tools and platform components for developers, including DirectX 12, Visual Studio and Microsoft Azure.” The new engine is sure to be used in Windows 10 and Xbox One gaming plus the possibilities for Hololens and its development are endless. Although Microsoft has focused on mainly gaming now with Windows 10 and its Windows 10 integration, the phones still possess a smaller market share compared to Iphone and Android. With Havok, Microsoft can now be on any platform using the Havok engine which will greatly increase their revenue stream as well. What do you think about this acquisition? Let us know in the comments along with what you would like to see Microsoft do with the technology
Microsoft announces the Fallout Xbox One bundle
Microsoft has announced the sixth and final bundle this week with the Xbox One Fallout Bundle. It will come with the following items 1TB Xbox One console Fallout 4 Game download Fallout 3 Game download 2 week Xbox Live Gold trial The pack will be available on November 10th, the launch day for Fallout 4 and can be pre-ordered now from the Microsoft store as well as some retailers. It will cost $399. Which bundle is your favorite of those that were announced? Let us know Major Nelson
PS Vita exclusive Phineas and Ferb title announced
Studio Virtual Toys has announced they are developing PS Vita exclusive Phineas and Ferb: Day of Doofenshmirtz which will be released later this year. It’s a portable exclusive and not a port that will expand the Vita’s library of games. We will be able to play as both Phineas and Ferb as well as Agent P (Perry the Platypus) while trying to stop Doofenshmirtz from turning everyday, household appliances into soldiers for his robot army. There is currently no release date or pricing yet but the game is set for a late 2015 release. Also not mentioned is whether or not the game will have a physical release or only digital. We’ve reached out to both Sony and Virtual Toys in order to confirm and will let you know what we find out. PlayStation Blog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENJ9b9xh2sM
The PlayStation 3 is officially discontinued….It’s the end of an era
Announced today in a report by Thosegamers, the PlayStation 3 has been officially discontinued by Sony. It’s officially the end of an era. We knew this would happen of course sometime and it looks like the PS3 is the first victim prior to the Xbox 360. According to the report, the console will no longer be sold in New Zealand as noted by Mighty Ape Games. The post, originally on their Facebook page, has since been taken down probably because Sony had some choice words for blowing their announcement. On the flip side, we got a screen shot of it for you which you can of course see above as the featured image. The official statement is “SCENZ will not be shipping anymore PlayStation 3 consoles to its retailers. However the platform is still available in retail outlets throughout NZ and being supported with peripherals, great new releases and back catalogue software.” Be a fan of whatever console you want, but when you hear of cancellations and discontinuations like this it really signals the end of an era. With Xbox 360 close behind and their contract with EA only through the end of the 2017 games, which is really the real year of 2016, we may be hearing the same thing about the 360 in about a year from now. What is your favorite game on the PS3 and your favorite memory of it? Let us know below. Thanks Thosegamers
Assassin’s Creed search engine brings internet to the 1900’s
Ubisoft has announced that they have created a mock up search engine for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and it is available now. The search engine is aimed to recreate and illustrate what the internet would have looked like if it had existed in the mid 19th century of London where Syndicate is based. It is functioning now and allows you to search anything you wanted. As a test, we searched “video games” and the results were news articles about what appears to be Evie Frye as a “mysterious hooded female”. The search engine is filled with hundreds of pieces of original content – painstakingly researched and catalogued – which will allow fans to discover the forgotten facts of this celebrated era. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate launches October 23rd You can check it out here