EA Sports lifted the curtains today on one of its core additions to Madden 25 this year, Connected Franchise owners mode. In it, players take on the role of team owner, setting prices for tickets and concessions as well as having the option to relocate teams to both domestic and international cities. Owners also handle the hiring of team personnel, such as scouts, trainers and coaches, and they answer questions from the media. Players will manage stadium upgrades and market their superstar athletes so fans will buy their jerseys, increasing their teams' yearly profit.

The options to import draft classes from EA's NCAA Football series and take control of all 32 teams in the Connected Careers mode were woefully absent from last year's game, but will return to Madden 25. Additionally, the game's primary career mode will receive a face-lift thanks to an improved user interface that includes a transaction log to follow the movement of players from team to team. The mode's UI includes a new Trade Center, allowing users to see what other teams are offering for players and draft picks so they can top their opponents' bids.

Lastly, Madden 25 will feature more media personalities for the career mode's in-game Twitter feed, such as ESPN fantasy analyst Matthew Berry and Fox Sports NFL writer Peter Schrager. It will also receive new legendary players and coaches, including Mike Ditka and William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

Major Nelson has posted the latest schedule for upcoming Xbox Live content. As previously announced, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will be released this Wednesday. This week's Deal of the Week is a 50 percent off sale on lots of D3Publisher titles, including the new Karateka, the Puzzle Quest series, Pid and more. There's also an Alan Wake sale with games up to 83 percent off. Finally, Crysis 3 hits Games on Demand tomorrow.

Next week, Hunters Trophy 2 – Australia hits Xbox Live Arcade and, although not mentioned by Major Nelson, CastleStorm will arrive as well. Next week's deals include discounts on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and its DLC, DarkStalkers Resurrection for $10. The Games on Demand version of Dark Souls will also be discounted, and it expansion, "Artorias of the Abyss" will be $7.50.

Continue Reading

The latest round of PS3 Ultimate Edition bundles sure is decadent, offering 10 games and all of their DLCs discounted up to 65 percent for standard PSN members, and 75 percent for PS Plus members. The Ultimate Editions hit the PS Store tomorrow, May 21, and the sale lasts until May 27.

The new Ultimate Editions are Assassin's Creed 3, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, DMC: Devil May Cry, Far Cry 3, Max Payne 3, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Persona 4 Arena, Starhawk and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

Once the launch sale ends, each Ultimate Edition will still be available on for up to 40 percent off the standard game-and-DLC price, under the Ultimate Edition tab on the PS Store.

Resident Evil: Revelations launches this week and Capcom has promised some DLC. It starts on June 4 with the Resistance and Enhancement sets for 160 MS Points ($2), each including six different weapon upgrades. Then, on June 11, Capcom will issue two additional characters for use in Raid mode: Rachel Ooze and Lady Hunk. Each character costs 240 MS Points ($3).

Resident Evil: Revelations is a remake of the 3DS game bearing the same name launched by Capcom in early 2012. Bridging the story between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, Revelations follows series regulars Jill and Chris, and takes place aboard a derelict cruise liner called the SS Queen Zenobia. A free demo has been available to all on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and Steam since last week.

Continue Reading

Irreverent Marvel antihero Deadpool may be gracing the Wii U, at least according to a listing by Amazon Canada. Spotted by NeoGAF over the weekend, the retailer has High Moon Studios' madcap action game pinned for the Nintendo console.

Unlike other platforms listed by the retailer, the release date is apparently a placeholder (December 31 2013) and the listing is minus details and box art. Even if a Wii U version is on the way, given the timing it seems unlikely it'll launch alongside the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC ones on June 25.

We've reached out to Deadpool himself (and Activision) to clear things up.

Just over 16 years ago, Shadow Warrior launched on PC. As the follow-up to 3D Realms' popular shooter Duke Nukem 3D, the two bore similarities; both donned an iconic first-person shooter style, substituting substance for violence at every turn. While Duke Nukem was a macho, chauvinist with all the ammo he could ever need, Shadow Warrior's main character was crass in a slightly different, albeit still offensive way.

The ninja assassin protagonist, Lo Wang, intended as a spoof on East Asian action heroes, was a walking racial stereotype. Lo Wang shouted "you want-a some wang?" with a mocking Asian accent, used chopsticks to catch flies, picked up fortune cookies in secret areas and fought sumo wrestlers. For many, Shadow Warrior was offensive and the game was criticized heavily for it.

Sixteen years later, Devolver Digital and developer Flying Wild Hog have announced a collaboration to reinvent Shadow Warrior; the spoils of the partnership due this fall on PC and in 2014 for unspecified next-gen consoles. While a modern Shadow Warrior will bare an updated skin, the "reinvention" isn't expected to be a departure from the original game's roots.

Continue Reading

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, showcasing gameplay from its co-op narrative campaign and some gruff banter between Sam Fisher and his partner-in-stealth Isaac Briggs.

Splinter Cell is beefing up its multiplayer offerings for the latest series entry, as Blacklist will feature both a two-player co-op campaign and the returning Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer mode. We had a chat with Blacklist's lead co-op designer Richard Carrillo earlier this month, in which he confirmed that teammates will need to adapt to multiple playstyles in order to survive.

Blacklist's co-op element spans four mission types and 14 maps, and is playable online and in local split-screen. Splinter Cell: Blacklist is set to launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC platforms on August 20.

This is the second half of a two-part series chronicling the unfinished works of seasoned indie developer Terry Cavanagh. For the first half, click all up on this.

Terry Cavanagh's next confessionary Vine of unfinished projects started with a psychedelic look at his most recently abandoned idea, a first-person exploration game. "The idea was that'd be some way to manipulate your position in the game and access areas that were outside the game world; procedurally generated noise places of some sort," Cavanagh told us.

"I liked the idea of randomly filling a world with information and abilities and letting the player figure it out by just poking around in areas I hadn't specifically designed for them – making a genuine playable minus world. Anyway, I was working on this before GDC, and when I was there I saw another game that was basically doing the same thing but better, so I scrapped my game. It happens, no big deal."

Continue Reading

Sony's official E3 teaser video shows a blurry, black box. Is this the future of gaming, also known as Cube?

Sony's E3 conference takes place in Los Angeles on June 10 at 6 p.m. PT. Perhaps we'll get a clearer idea of what the PS4 looks like at that time, along with a price and release date. Right now we have "Holiday 2013," a timeframe that Sony settled on when it announced the PS4 in February.

Microsoft is prepping to reveal its own next-gen console – the new Xbox – tomorrow, May 21, at 10 a.m. PT. We'll have live coverage of that event.

Update: Joystiq reader rcoutant points us to an imgur album of the PS4 hardware in focus and really close-up, pulled right from the video.

Microsoft has filed a new trademark for the word "Forzavista." Using our detective-like intuition, we've determined it probably has something to do with the Forza Motorsport series, possibly something that will be revealed during tomorrow's "Xbox Reveal" event. Further speculation points to a renaming or expansion of the series' "Autovista" feature, which allows players to get up close and personal with many of the game's cars (including Halo 4's Warthog).

Okay, so it's not so much speculation as it is exactly what's described by the trademark itself. Specifically, the trademark refers to "A feature of interactive video game software which allows players to obtain statistical information of internal and external features of a vehicle and to virtually navigate and operate those vehicles."

Be sure to tune into Joystiq on Tuesday, May 21, for more live coverage of Microsoft's event than you can shake a stick shift at.

Warner Bros. revealed Batman: Arkham Origins is fronted by two of gaming's most prominent voice actors. Roger Craig Smith is confirmed as the caped crusader, and Troy Baker is his nemesis, the Joker.

If you don't recognize the names, you'll definitely recognize their previous work. Craig Smith's immense portfolio includes Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed, Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, and he's the current voice of Sonic. While he's never starred in anything Batman related, he does have superhero experience. It is for the other side, however; he's played Captain America in both games and animations.

Baker is similarly prolific. While he recently graced our screens as Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, his past work includes Sgt. Matt Baker in Gearbox's Brothers in Arms, Snow from the Final Fantasy 13 line, Kai Leng from Mass Effect 3, and Vincent from Catherine. When we profiled Baker around this time last year, he shared his love for all things Batman on the back of starring in Arkham City.

"Being a part of Arkham City was just incredible - because I'm a huge Batman fan," Baker told us, "And to play Two-Face and Robin after growing up watching The Animated Series was a banner moment for me."

The news follows apparent confirmation long-time Batman vocalist Kevin Conroy does star in Origins, but how he features remains to be seen. We know Origins deals with Batman's "initiation into that insane world" of the other Arkham games, so perhaps Conroy's role is something retrospective. Even if Conroy doesn't play the dark knight in any sense in Origins, to fans he's still the goddamn Batman.

Bat-click here to check out our preview and the new trailer.

Batman: Arkham Origins follows the world's most enduring vigilante after just two years on the job. The developers at Warner Bros. Montreal, taking over from Rocksteady Studios and their critically acclaimed construction of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, want to convey a "rawer, scarier Batman." He's all growl and grimace in the cutscenes, dangling squirming henchmen from clock towers until they turn verbose, but in play his rookie temper is more difficult to detect.

The prequel is a tricky proposition, especially when it concerns history that's been dissected again and again across comics, movies and games. It's harder to conjure narrative tension while it's colored by the inevitable outcome, and that draws greater scrutiny on mechanical expansion and refinement. Why does this younger Batman make for a better Batman game?

Continue Reading

In lieu of an E3 press conference, Nintendo is going to present a Nintendo Direct before E3, showcasing the "new Smash Bros., 3D Mario game, Mario Kart and other Wii U titles."

The company previously announced that all three games would be playable at E3. This means for those not attending the show, the games may be playable at Nintendo's special Best Buy E3 demo extravaganza (note: fullness of "extravaganza" is TBD).

The most recent Nintendo Direct held last week covered the company's summer plans and Hedgehog snuggles.

It's another familiar week of UK cha-... oh wait, it isn't.

After Dead Island: Riptide sliced through its competition for three weeks, this time it's dethroned by another follow-up in the form of Metro: Last Light. By debuting in top spot, it does what Metro 2033 failed to do when it placed fifth in 2010.

Chart-Track says Metro 2033 sold stronger than Last Light in its launch week. Back then, Metro 2033 was fighting March megatons like Final Fantasy 13, God of War 3, and Battlefield Bad Company 2. In contrast, May 2013 has been dead quiet - emphasis on dead.

Having said that, this week sees another new release in the top ten via Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. The spinoff charts fourth this week. We expect the next 3DS Poke-game to do slightly better.

In other movers and shakers, Last Light only nudged Riptide into second place, making this week a 1-2 for Deep Silver and Koch Media. Tomb Raider drops out of the top five for the first time in its 11th week, slipping down to sixth. Meanwhile, Injustice: Gods Among Us and The Walking Dead (packaged retail edition) shuffle into eighth and seventh.

Continue Reading

---

This week on Stiq Figures, we're looking back at the surprise launch of the Sega Saturn at E3 1995. Namely, we're watching this strange promotional video for the system, which features clips of launch games along with creepy people that live in your nightmares.

Continue Reading

When Valve let up to 25 hardware development staff go in February, Jeri Ellsworth was one of them, and she was working on a pair of 3D augmented-reality glasses at the time called Cast AR. Ellsworth continued work on them with her new company, Technical Illusions, and recently let our friends at Engadget take them out for a spin at the Maker Faire 2013 event in San Mateo, CA.

Cast AR is described as a "projected augmented reality system" on the company's site. Ellsworth said she plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign later in the year to fund the project, with the goal of each kit adding up to less than $200 for buyers. The site notes plans to include a development kit with each pair.

Spicy Horse's Oz game combines the undead with "an Oz not of our remembering" – it's called OZombie, and it stars Dorothy, Toto, the Lion and the Tin Woodsman. The Scarecrow, who always wanted brains, is cast as the villain in this iteration, and instead of carrying around a basket, Dorothy gets a repeater.

Spicy Horse is unsure which game it will make next, OZombie or Alice: Otherlands, and it all depends on whether the studio can regain the Alice rights from EA. If Spicy Horse and EA work out a good deal, then Alice it is. If not, OZombie gets the green light and probably a Kickstarter.

"Actually, the more I think about it – and the more I see/hear feedback from you guys – the more I'm personally leaning towards Oz," Spicy Horse founder American McGee writes on the OZombie Facebook page. "There's so much fun stuff to explore, so many interesting characters and locations to discover. Wonderland will also be there, if not today, if not the next project, then perhaps the one after that?"

Keep in mind (and mind your brains) that OZombie is entirely separate from American McGee's Oz, the game Atari canceled in 2004.