Something For The Weekend – 26/11/16

Well, it’s the grand finale to this year’s F1 season and Lewis Hamilton has done everything he needs to so far this weekend to be in with a shout of the championship… but then Rosberg is exactly where he needs to be as well.

What are your predictions for tomorrow?

In the News This Week

• We hunt down the best of 2016’s Black Friday deals
  It feels like it’s been Black Friday for the last fortnight, but yesterday was the day itself and the promotions are running over the weekend as well. Found any bargains?
• Hello Games finally speak about the upcoming Foundation Update
  They’ve been hard at work, laying the foundations for base building and other future features.
• Watch Dogs 2 gets its seamless multiplayer turned on
  It took them a week, in what was another disappointing launch day fumble, but Watch Dogs 2 now has its seamless multiplayer.
• Watch Dogs 2 massively underperformed in launch week sales…
• … but Farming Simulator 17 has already sold a million copies
• PSVR on track to outsell Oculus Rift and HTC Vive this year
  “VR is considered as a gimmick by many,” Bunimomike wrote. “At the very least, there’s plenty of people who simply aren’t interested. However, Sony has done a top job bringing out something relatively affordable and it’s acted as a gateway into VR.”
• Ubisoft seem to be ditching large DLC packs
  Yet more Ubisoft news. What the future holds exactly isn’t quite clear, but the reliance on DLC to deliver the fuller, more satisfying experience will be reduced. “I hope other game developers/publishers do the same,” Camdaz wrote. “I normally buy season passes but I think some are getting way too expensive.”
• Turns out releasing buggy games is a bad idea, according to Deep Silver
• Got a horse but no stable? A Darksiders: Warmastered special edition has one bundled
• The Walking Dead: A New Frontier premieres on 20th December

Games in Review

There’s still one or two major games to come along at the start of December, but this past week has let us look at some smaller titles. Steins;Gate 0 in particular managed to shine without other games hogging its spotlight.

• Steins;Gate 0 – PS4, PS Vita – 9/10
• Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Win, Mac, Linux (PS4, XBO in 2017) – 7/10
• Yesterday Origins – PS4, XBO, PC – 7/10
• Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 4 – PS4, PS3, XBO, X360, PC, Mac, iOS, Android – Episodic, no score
• Overcooked – The Last Morsel – PS4, XBO, PC – DLC, no score

This Week’s Features

Jim returned to Assassin’s Creed with The Ezio Collection, calling it “by far the best Assassin’s Creed game I’ve played in years.” But it, like many games in the last couple of months, hasn’t actually sold all that well after its mid-November release. I asked the simple question: why aren’t people buying great games?

Dave had thoughts in a similar arena, as he pondered whether over-marketing your game can actually harm it, specifically discussing Pokémon Sun & Moon’s release. His adventures in Alola continued, and he followed up last week’s review by heading online and exploring some of the end game features.

Tuffcub’s been battling with retro shoot ’em up Blue Rider, and in lieu of a review gave us a list of seven things that are as hard as this nigh on impossible to beat game.

I headed back to Cities: Skylines to explore the Natural Disasters DLC and its scenario editor. I also spoke to Pewter Games Studios’ co-founders and Charles Cecil about The Little Acre, a gorgeous looking adventure game that has a real classic vibe to it.

Finally, as always, there’s What We Played, featuring Overcooked, Overwatch and Pokémon Sun (but not Moon).

Trailer Park

Watch Dogs 2’s Nvidia powered PC trailer
That fog looks incredible…

Uncharted 4: Survival gameplay trailer
Naughty Dog takes the lid off the upcoming co-op mode for Uncharted 4

Sumo Digital show off Snake Pass
Expect to see more at PlayStation Experience

Pinball FX2 comes to VR

The Division – Survival Expansion gates a launch trailer
Next month for PlayStation players, though.

Your Achievements

DividSmythe hit the ripe old age of 40, celebrating by getting a touch motion sick by playing RIGS and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare VR.

Tactical20 was on the verge of completing Watch Dogs 2 yesterday (so he’s surely finished by now), but has found it starting to grate more and more over time. He doesn’t like the characters, and finds the gunplay to be pointless and overly difficult. He thinks San Fran’s a fantastic location, though.

It’s been a week of polishing off Fallout 4 and the Nuka-World DLC for MrYd, while Andrewww has nabbed the platinum trophy for Until Dawn.

The Week Ahead

So, after years and years of waiting, Final Fantasy XV is nearly here – or actually already here, if you lucked out and the retailer sent it to you a little early. It’s far from the only game out next week, though.

• Final Fantasy XV – PS4, XBO – 29/11
• Steins;Gate 0 – PS4, PS Vita – 29/11 (US, Out now in EU)
• The Dwarves – PS4, XBO, Win, Mac, Linux – 01/12
• Steep – PS4, XBO, PC – 02/12
• Super Mario Maker – 3DS – 02/12

So, the big race tomorrow. Here’s hoping it’s a cracking end to the season.