Open world games: what to expect for the next generation

The Witcher 3 is the first in the series to feature an open world map. Image credit: CD Projekt RED

With open-world games yet to exploit the power of new-gen consoles, we have reason to be excited

This article originally appeared on ScreenRobot.com: http://bit.ly/N0Efxb

Cast your mind back to a particularly momentous event in summer 2013. No, not Facebook introducing hashtags, that was rubbish. I’m talking about that haven of gaming nerdiness, E3, and the thing that particularly stood out about the event- the unveiling of a wave of open-world games for next-gen consoles.

Everything from Assassin’s Creed IV, to Dying Light and Metal Gear Solid V is, was, and will be open world. There were even open-world driving games, like The Crew and Need for Speed Rivals. There were more open world titles than you could shake a beautifully rendered, non-linear, free-roaming stick at. This raises the question of what the next-gen platforms mean for the genre.

One person who can shed some light is Tadeusz Zieliński, of Polish developer CD Projekt RED. Since 2002, the Warsaw-based studio has been working on The Witcher games, but it is only with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that the series will incorporate a free-roaming element. According to Zieliński, the advent of a new generation of gaming consoles played an important role in this decision. ”In the case of The Witcher, setting the game in an open world seemed natural from the very start but, to be frank, it’s also a very resource heavy and experience-reliant endeavour,” says Zieliński. ”Hence we had to wait until now to do it and maintain the quality we’re known for.”

I have to battle WHAT now?! 5 ridiculous retro gaming bosses

Hooray! What do I win? ‘Death’? Ah, crud

It’s hard being a retro gaming villain. There you are, ruling your kingdom with all the power and evil henchmen you could ever wish for, when some upstart comes along and ruins everything.

That’s bad enough. But what if the game designers made you… different? If those infernal tormentors gave you a ridiculous body or put you somewhere you don’t belong (like in space – more on that later), then your misery is compounded. It can be hard being evil.

Retro games feature some of the best, wackiest villains out there. In a time when developers were less concerned with incredible realism, there was more room for characters, plots and bosses that were just plain weird. So here’s our homage to 5 of our favourite ridiculous retro gaming bosses.

What was that?! 5 hilarious sports gaming glitches

We all love well crafted games. Those moments when they make us sit back, rendered speechless at their beauty or a stunning revelation, are hard to rival.

And then… and then there are those moments when it doesn’t quite come together so well. When characters fall through the level, or when the head of an NPC starts slowly spinning without them so much as blinking, the spell is broken.

On the plus side, these glitches provide us with some of our fondest gaming memories (well, ours at any rate). They prove that even the biggest developers can slip up and provide us with a glorious sliver of unintended hilarity. And when they happen in sports games – with their emphasis on cutthroat competition and win-at-all-costs mentality, the effect is wonderfully amplified.

From football to basketball, cricket and a whole lot more, join us as we run through some of the funniest bugs to make their debut in the world of sports gaming.

Retro resurrections: 5 classic games that deserve an awesome comeback

Gone but not forgotten: some retro games are simply too good not to make an appearance on next generation games consoles

As we previously detailed, 2014 is set to see a whole raft of stunning, innovative games hit the world stage. From the beauty of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture to the adrenaline rush of Dying Light, it’s not going to be easy to choose what upcoming title gets the lion’s share of our attention.

But what about those games that aren’t getting an update or new release this year? The ones whose glory days are sadly in the past? Well, we feel there are certain games whose lasting impact on the video games industry and its legions of players is such that they deserve a reboot. And hell, even if the major publishers aren’t willing to dip into the past, sites like Kickstarter have proved that may not even be necessary.

So join us as we steer our way through our top 5 retro resurrections wishlist.

Our most anticipated games of 2014

Titanfall, Dying Light and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter are among the ones to watch in 2014

There’s no denying 2013 was a great year for games, but with the release of the next gen consoles and a whole raft of developments afoot, 2014 is set to be pretty special in its own right.

Join us as we take a look at six games to be release this year that everyone’s talking about. From the breathtaking visuals of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter to the innovative gameplay of Dying Light and Tom Clancy’s The Division, in no particular order here are the games we can’t wait to get our hands on this year.

Five things that will rock the gaming world in 2014

Image credit: Sergey Galyonkin

As we look ahead to the new year and all that it will bring, it’s time to ask ourselves: what can we expect to see making gaming headlines 2014?

We saw some pretty awesome developments in the gaming world in 2013. From the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to the release of groundbreaking titles like GTA V and The Last of Us, there were some pretty exciting and important changes that went down.

Now that we’re on the brink of 2014, we thought it was a good time to cast our eye over what we think will be some of the major players in the coming year. Let’s get started.

Will next-gen consoles kill off retro gaming?

Next generation consoles won’t mean the end of retro gaming. Image credit: Doug Kline

Following on from our look at the ways retro gaming has flourished into the 21st century, we’ve written a guest post for the lovely people at 1001-Up.com. It too focuses on retro gaming, but while our first article examined the reasons for retro gaming’s remarkable longevity, this time we turn our attention to the threat of next gen consoles – and why they won’t be killing off retro gaming just yet.

From the article:

Next gen consoles have been somewhat hogging the limelight recently, with every man and his dog ruminating on which one to buy, what the best games will be and comparing them head-to-head. The gaming blogosphere is riding a wave of zealous excitement like a kid at Christmas, deconstructing the consoles and everything about them with admirable vigour. It’s all rather overwhelming.

The question that no one seems to be asking, however, is what impact the new consoles will have on retro gaming. To put it bluntly, will they kill it off? There are those who would say there is a perfectly good reason for this lack of curiosity: no-one plays retro games any more, they argue, those things died a death years ago. Well, not quite.

Read the rest of the article at 1001-Up.com here.

We wish you a Mario Christmas

What games are on your Christmas list? Image credit: Bryan Ochalla

Apologies for the terrible pun.

With the festive season well underway, we want to know what your retro wish would be. If you could find one retro game or console under the tree this Christmas, what would it be?

A retro classic like Super Mario 64, Secret of Mana or Sonic the Hedgehog? Or a super rare collectible like Clay Fighter 63 1/3, Eliminate Down or Pro Sport Hockey for the NES? Or maybe even something fiendishly difficult like the infamous Battletoads?

Whatever your dream choice, let us know in the comments below.

And don’t forget to give us a like on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Could it be a SNES? Image credit: Hades2k

Game on: retro classics live on in the modern console era

• Despite the release of a new generation of consoles, retro gaming continues to thrive on platforms such as Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network
• Though the nostalgia of older gamers plays a role in this, much interest comes from younger gamers eager to explore the games of the past
• And although some remakes of retro games are disappointing, they raise awareness of classic games and gaming culture as a whole

Power up with useful links, check out The Next Level Gaming’s exclusive interview with Thomas Amato of Cardiff retro gaming store Super Tomato, or take the poll and tell us your thoughts: is there a future for retro games on next gen consoles? Don’t forget to share your favourite!

Retro game Banjo Kazooie, originally made for the Nintendo 64, is one game to have made the transition to modern consoles. Image credit: Alex Blake

Picture this. A boy sits in front of a TV screen, a controller gripped tightly in his hands, his games console humming away in his peripheral vision. On the screen is a bear clad in yellow shorts, the sharp angles and garish colours a world away from the slick experience of the modern game. An orange bird emerges awkwardly from the bear’s backpack as a yokelish cry escapes his lips, piercing the unsettlingly vivid blue sky.

This is a scene from the iconic adventure game Banjo Kazooie, a staple on millions of Nintendo 64 games consoles in the 1990s. The difference? The boy is playing it on his Xbox 360.

Should video games be released annually?

As fans and critics become less tolerant of minor changes and overhyped developments from yearly releases, is it time we asked whether the practice should be scrapped?

Take the poll and tell us what you think: should some video games be released annually?

EA recently announced that it would not be releasing its major title Battlefield on an annual basis. According to IGN, EA Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen asserted that the company did not have the resources to release the game annually without an accompanying drop in quality, arguing: “The challenges are you’ve got to most likely do it out of two studios because it’s hard.”

Speaking at the UBS Global Technology Conference on 19 November, Jorgensen stated: “Battlefield takes us about two years to develop and so you want to make sure that you’re sharing talent across studios… You also want to be really careful that you don’t destroy the franchise along the way.”

See below for the IGN video announcing EA’s decision not to release Battlefield annually: