Saturday, February 20, 2016

HotSauce Off the Presses for the Week of 2-20-16

Hello Hot Sauce Nation! It's me, SirOrin here to bring you another update on the week that was.

Previously on Txk HotSauce: Ant and Louie continued their mission in Mega Man X: Command Mission. Also, it was no illusion, AzzAlane played Illusion of Gaia. Finally, Rex and Mattikus each fought the servers in the launch of Street Fighter V!

Here are the gaming stories of the week that caught my attention. New games you should look forward to next week include Far Cry: Primal and the re-release of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow! See you all next week!
~ SirOrin

HotSauce Off the Presses for the Week of 2-13-16



Find someone who looks at you the way
Lupe Fiasco looks at Daigo Umehara.
Lupe Fiasco beat Daigo! Magic is real!

Following up on a previous story I highlighted, the match between Lupe Fiasco and Daigo Umehara in Street Fighter V has happened and against all odds, Lupe was the victor. While this immediately led many to wonder if the outcome was staged, I prefer to believe that anything is possible and that maybe there is still some magic in the world. Another, perhaps more likely, possibility is that Daigo allowed Lupe to hang close for dramatic purposes and fully intended to beat him in the final match. Either way, Lupe shocked us all with the flying jump kick heard around the world and won the final Game 5 matchup. Here's hoping for a rematch at EVO! And speaking of Street Fighter V...




I think I probably won't bother buying SF V,
all of the good names are apparently taken.
Street Fighter V Launches with Shaky Servers

It is common practice at this point for games with on-line functionality to launch with issues and Street Fighter V is no exception. Between slow matchmaking, random drops, and sever outages the launch day suffered from a myriad of problems. Add to this that many of the games features require an on-line component at all times and many fans were left disappointed. For everyone who was on the final wave of survival mode just to have the servers drop and all of your progress lost, I weep for you. At this point however, servers seem to be running somewhat better. However, with all of the missing features (what kind of lobby is a 2 person lobby?) and shaky launch, it seems clear SFV was rushed out the door, probably to kick off the Capcom tour. It's disappointing for a game that most people seem to really enjoy playing....when it works.



The Randy Savage Deathclaw says
"Oooh Yeah, I'm getting that DLC!"
Fallout 4 DLC Outlined and Season Pass Price Rises

If you have any interest in playing the Fallout 4 DLC, I suggest you purchase the season pass before March 1st. Bethesda announced many of their plans for the next year of DLC for Fallout 4, including an increase in the price of their season pass from $29.99 to $49.99 beginning March 1st. That means you still have a little over a week to purchase it at the discounted price. The DLC itself seems to be a mix of small "stuff packs" similer to the Sims, as well as full expansions with major story lines. There are also several free updates coming including the Creation Kit as well as an overhaul of the Survival Mode. I will probably do what I always do with Bethesda games and just wait on the Game of the Year Edition to include all the DLC.



I thought this was a photo of Warren Spector
losing his mind until I remembered Epic Mickey
Warren Spector is Back and Working on System Shock 3

Well known game designer and producer, Warren Spector has been hired on to guide development of OtherSide Entertainment, the developers of the upcoming System Shock 3. Spector has a large history in the games industry as far back as Wing Commander and most recently the Epic Mickey franchise. His opus magnum was probably the original Deus Ex back in 2000. He has history with the System Shock series as a produces so he will have a strong familiarity with one of the most lauded game series of all time. Let's just hope System Shock 3 comes out more like Deus Ex than, let's say, Epic Mickey.



What that sixth guy on the squad
who went 1-22 looks like at home.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is Trying Out a New Pricing Strategy

Activision is trying out a new pricing structure for the newest Call of Duty game. They are offering a bare-bones version of the multiplayer on Steam for the low price of only $15. There are several limitations including: No private matches, no prestiging at the level cap, and obviously no zombies or campaign. Even so, this is the easiest/cheapest way for players to get in on the hit FPS. This isn't uncalled for, the previous generation versions of the game already had the campaign stripped out, supposedly due to graphical reasons. What will be interesting is whether they offer something like this at the game's launch next year.






For those who don't know, DICE is where developers
get together and get CRUNK! (as pictured here)
PT is Back! Maybe...

The DICE Summit (a game developers conference) was this past week and one of gaming's biggest stars, Hideo Kojima, was on-stage with film director and friend, Guillermo del Toro. These two are best known together for their work on PT, a free game demo for the cancelled Silent Hills game. The demo took fans and the internet by storm and has since been pulled from the market following Kojima's abrupt removal from the company. While there was no mention of a spiritual successor to PT, Guillermo did say he would do "anything he wants" referring to Kojima. This is good news for all PT fans and I hope to hear more news in the coming months on another collaboration.



Strafe Trailer is the Greatest of the Year, Everyone Else Pack It Up

There is really no substance to this story, but man...what a trailer. You owe it to yourself to watch all 2 minutes of this beauty. Direct link here.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

HotSauce Off the Presses for the Week of 2-13-16

Welcome Hot Sauce Nation to another weekly wrap up. This is your guide, SirOrin!

This week at TXK HotSauce we featured Ant and Louie taking command in Mega Man X: Command Mission. Also, AzzAlane forgot gaming rule #1 in Secret of Mana: You must always save! Mattikus survived the biohazard that is Resident Evil 2. Rex and Orin hunted the vermin scourge in Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide. Finally, a new challenger apeared as Key's took the fight on-line with Smash 4.

This week will continue to feature some great content for all of you guys! In the meantime, here are the gaming stories of the week that caught my attention. New games are coming out again (XCOM 2, FireWatch, Fire Emblem, and some indie game called Street Fighter V) so the news is a little light. See you all next time!
~ SirOrin

HotSauce Off the Presses for the Week of 2-13-16



There were 10 million unique Titanfall players since launch.
The future war economy really is a lucrative business.
Titanfall 2 to Fall to All Consoles! Now With Singleplayer!

The sequel to an early title for Xbox One will be released on all consoles, and this time it will include an actual campaign. While the original game did have a multiplayer mode called "Campaign" it was barely different from the standard multiplayer modes. This time around the developers, Respawn, are promising an actual story and campaign. I enjoyed Titanfall and the idea of a campaign does have potential. Respawn includes the old Infinity Ward guys (Call of Duty prior to 2010) so they have a history of incredible first person campaigns.



There was a time in my life when movie versions of games
excited me. That time was when I was fourteen.
Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed Taking a One Year Break

For the first time since Assassin's Creed II back in 2009, there will not be a mainline Assassin's Creed game released this year. The annual franchise has decided to take a one year break in their release schedule. This doesn't mean you can't get some sort of Assassin's Creed fix if you need it, they still have the Assassin's Creed Chronicles franchise releasing this year, but those are small side story campaigns. With an Assassin's Creed movie in the works, this could be the publisher letting fans have time to get excited for a new release. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that there is a Watchdogs 2 (I am not putting the underscore in that title, it doesn't deserve it) on the horizon at the end of this year. Ubisoft is one of the most prolific publishers out there and they surely have something big planned for a holiday release.



More like an "Eternity" until we get
some new content, am I right?
Destiny Sequel Coming in 2017 - Only an Expansion This Year

Speaking of sequels... For anyone still in the Destiny scene, you will have to wait at least a nother year for a proper sequel. Shortly on the heels of the announcement that the leads on the Destiny team are changing, this announcement dropped. From my understanding, many fans are becoming disenfranchised with the lack of content in Destiny lately. After the amazing expansion that was The Forsaken King, the only real content has been small, often holiday related events. Most fans assumed the content was dying down as the developers worked on an immenent announdement for Destiny 2. Unfortunately with this announcement they will have to wait another year However, there it word of a new expansion so that might appease some of the restless fans.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

HotSauce Off the Presses for the week of 2-06-16

What's up Hot Sauce Nation? SirOrin here with another weekly roundup of what we have been doing and some of the biggest news to hit gaming this week. 

On the channel I have been exploring the deep waters of Soma, Rex has been crawling through the Deepest Darkest Dungeons, AzzAlane and Louie have been going deep in sandal debt with Mystical Ninjas, and Mattikus has been working his way out of the deep salt mines in Street Fighter: Third Strike.

Wednesday will hopefully bring the return of our Hot Sauce Playdate. Stay tuned to the schedule to see what each of us will be playing the rest of the week. Now let's see what news stories caught my eye.


HotSauce Off the Presses for the week of 2-06-16



Not all cards are created equal.

For the first time, Hearthstone is "retiring" certain cards from its main modes. The new "Standard" mode will be the default format and exclude several cards including the Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes expansions. This is a common practice for competitive card games but a first for the Blizzard hit CCG. People who dropped hundreds of dollars on the previous expansions are not surprisingly upset by this news. Old cards can still be used in the "Wild" format, which is also the format Arena (and likely Tavern Brawl) will now run. All in all this seems like a healthy decision for competitive Hearthstone. Still, the response has been mixed. This is probably the first CCG for most of the upset players and they have probably not experienced this like players of other CCG games (Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, etc). I am disppointed to lose my Loatheb and Dr. Boom just like everyone else but it will be exciting to see how this changes up the meta.




Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor?
More like Dorito's and Mt. Dew!
A New Challenger Approaches! Lupe Fiasco!

In one of the most hilarious stories of the week, rapper Lupe Fiasco is embroiled in a beef war. Not with another hip hop artist, but with Daigo Umehara of the fighting game community. What started out as an innocent enough tweet by Lupe Fiasco about being good at street fighter, evolved into the fighting game community challenging him to a million dollar money match with the legendary Street Fighter player. The stakes seem to have lowered since then and Lupe seems mostly realistic in his chances of winning. He is, however, talking a big game. This will hopefully make the big screen at EVO at some point because this is now the only thing I care about seeing from Vegas this summer.





Peter Molyneux's response upon finding
out his Twitter account was hacked.
Peter Molyneux's Retirement was a Fable

Famed game-maker Peter Molyneux (Populous, Black and White, Fable) issued a series of tweets announcing his retirement and his disappointment in one of his previous projects, Fable 3. While Fable 3 was vastly inferior to Fable 2, it wasn't worth retiring over. Which is probably why he didn't actually retire. It turns out that just like your best friend who leaves their Facbook page up, Molyneux was the victim of being hacked. He quickly regained control of the account and apologized for the misinformation. Still, it was surprising how many people immediately believed him. Molyneux's most recent games including Fable 3, Godus, and Curiousity: What's Inside the Cube? have all been met with mediocre reviews. Perhaps his next project will bring him back into the forefront of game design. And if not, at least we have the Peter Molydeux twitter account.




I hope Nate and Matt can now recommend
each other as references in their careers.
The Truth Behind the Mario Maker Emergency Maintenance

Last week some of you may have noticed that the Mario Maker servers were down for an extended period of time, completely unannounced. The truth about what caused this was actually pretty interesting. This article by Kotaku's Patrick Klepek explains the lengths Nintendo went through to maintain the integrity of it's user-made levels. Long story short, players were able to alter existing levels in the editor using an exploit and then complete them effortlessly making the world record times meaningless. The most fascinating part of this story is the way the glitch was reported to Nintendo via LinkedIn, a professional networking service. As someone who is only aware of LinkedIn every month when they send me spam e-mail, it's good to see someone finding a worthwhile use for this service.