This week will be all about two big games. There are some interesting smaller ones, but let’s face it. Most of you want to finally get into some Watch Dogs, and Wii U owners will be rejoicing with a new game. And not just any new game. A MarioKart. Minor spoiler: I think the solution to some of the problems in Watch Dogs might be hacking.
Watch Dogs (PC, PS3, PS4, 360, Xbone, Wii U)
What is it? Open world game in a futuristic setting where everything is surveilled and controlled. Big Brother is watching, but you have the ability to hack into it all.
Should you care? It’s easy to see the extrapolation from modern day surveillance scandals, which is very interesting, but I do worry about the gameplay. It’ll need more than “Press X to hack” if it wants to avoid disappointment of the same variety as the first Assassin’s Creed, the trailer of which made it seem like anything was possible.
MarioKart 8 (Wii U)
What is it? That’s a silly question. You’re silly. It’s MarioKart, with bikes and hovercars and graphics.
Should you care? If you own a Wii U, yes. But if you own a Wii U, you knew this moment was coming.
Final Fantasy III (PC)
What is it? The Steam re-release.
Should you care? I think so, but that’s me. Even if you aren’t a fan, it can be fun to use these re-releases to self-educate on the classics.
ibb & obb (PC)
What is it? Two-player co-op puzzle game in which you can reverse gravity.
Should you care? There’s not exactly a shortage of these games. Grab it if the aesthetic jumps out at you.
Richard & Alice (PC)
What is it? Adventure game about a living in a barren world alongside people with secrets.
Should you care? A very story focused game, and both Eurogamer and RTS have sung its story’s praises. Might be worth checking out.
Growing Pains
What is it? Core platformer in which your character constantly grows, making it harder to escape the area.
Should you care? An interesting idea which I haven’t seen before — if love is given to the level design, it could result in some interesting & unique gameplay.
A Story About My Uncle
What is it? First-person platformer in which you look for your uncle in a fantasy land.
Should you care? It makes use of a swinging mechanic, which won’t be enough to carry it on its own, but it also boasts pretty landscapes to turn into a blur as you speed past.
Where is my Heart?
What is it? One-player puzzler in which you are forced from your tree home as a family of forest spirits.
Should you care? This one plays with how you rely on visuals to solve puzzles in a very interesting way, and lets you manipulate tiles that make up a collage that is the level you’re in. I might be giving this one a go if I have time.
Comments
63 responses to “This Week In Games: Press X To Hack”
Xbone? Really?
A lot of people still call it that, I prefer that name for it actually.
yep thats what mines named….offically
Yup, nothin’ like firin’ up the ol’ Xbone.
Well, MS did buy the domain name. As far as I remember anyway, even though that was not the intention of MS, thats when the name was kinda solidified on the web and in stores.
It happened and I guess it doesn’t really matter why but it is hear to stay and I don’t think it’s demeaning, just anything is better than ‘Xbox One’, it’s their own fault for having such a weird name (Not knocking the machine, just the name.)
Problem?
Rolls of the tongue better than ex-bee-one (XB1) or Xbox One, can’t shorten it to “One” in the vein of 360 and calling it Xbox just has too much ambiguity.
As much as I disliked the name at the beginning it’s kind of grown on me and frankly it makes the most sense for a shorthand name for the console.
Microsoft wanted us to call it “The One” and some people do, but I always say X-Bone. I think it’s a rad nickname, and I lived through the 90s so I know rad when I see it.
You may be rad but I doubt you can get, jiggy with it.
Sadly gettin’ jiggy with it was after my time. I tried to get jiggy once, but it made people uncomfortable and I was asked to leave.
I’ve gotten a lot of Jiggies in my time
http://banjokazooie.wikia.com/wiki/Jiggy
You used to be ”with it” then they changed what “it” was. Now what you’re “with” isnt “it” and whats “it” seems weird and scary to you. It’ll happen to everyone.
Give me 5 bees for a quarter he’d say.
I’m cold and there are wolves after me.
^ That’s my reasoning. It’s just the most effective shorthand, and is less awkward phonetically. The fact that it happens to also have the word “bone” in it, well, we can all get past it I think.
I just think it’s unprofessional considering the way in which I usually see the nickname being used “Xboned”, but clearly I’m the minority in seeing it this way. I guess I can see it you way 🙂 Just not as endearing as the Cube though!
xboned, kinda like the way miscrosoft was trying to bone the gamer, with always online, phone home every 24hrs, no used games, etc etc.
xbox 720 was the logical name, nay they only name that it could of been called, yet they even stuffed that up
I present Exhibit A
Yeah, 720 sounds more appropriate.
…a 720 resolution 😛
798p on Watch_Dogs, what what.
/s
I do get your point and originally I shared your opinion and avoided using the name because I thought it kind of childish.
(I did like the Cross-Bone nickname that got floated at announcement, but it’s an even worse mouthful =P )
But for general conversation nothing really beats it, frankly it’s something MS should have accounted for and I’m shocked that they didn’t expect it.
But it’s not cube shaped… what would lead you to call it the Cube?
I would of thought XB1 would have been an easier shorthand.
Not that is matters the message was conveyed.
I noticed a typo in your article, I think you meant “Xboner”?
For a while there I tried to call it the x1, but now it’s the xbone.
Are you objecting to the name or that its being used by a professional entity?
If its the latter, just see it as a term of endearment towards gaming culture, makes it easier to accept.
I bet you weren’t expecting so many responses, lol
It just kind of took on a life of it’s own…
As a bit of extra info, the PC version of Final Fantasy III is the DS version with visual enhancements and some new art so if you have the DS version already, there isn’t really a reason to get it other than playing it on a bigger screen.
I’d recommend it to anyone that liked Bravely Default or doesn’t have it on any other system.
If you own Super Mario Kart on the WiiU Virtual Console then you can get $10.40 off the price of the eShop Mario Kart 8 (so it should be $69.55, while Big W sell the disc version for $69).
I normally buy disc versions of WiiU games but Mario Kart is the type of game you’d want to keep on your console forever for a quick race whenever you want, so I’m considering the eshop version.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/145645
$58 at Big W now!
Ah crap, might be the way to go!
Also, if you purchase Mario Kart, and register it with Club Nintendo, they will give you a code to another game of your choice. (Zelda, Mario Bros Wii U, Nintendo Land, MH3 and a few others).
It’s too bad I own most of the games (or some are shit).
My choices are really down to Pikmin or Sonic Lost World.
Pikmin 3 is amazing. Mine are down to Nintendo Land, MH3, WarioWare. (Not interested in Wii U Party, or the Sonic games).
Not sure what I should get.
Monster Hunter 3 is amazing! 😛
Nintendo Land is pretty good too but it and WarioWare are both multiplayer/party games. MH is great single and co-op with some buddies though!
I am vaguely interested in Monster Hunter but I have never played any of them before and I tried the demo on WiiU and 3DS and wasn’t quite sure of what was going on.
Maybe a free game would be a good way to try it out properly.
The demo is terrible for newcommers! There’s no explanations and it just focused on the boss battle part of the game. I considered myself new to MH3U since I had only briefly played MH3 on Wii before giving up. I don’t know what it was about the Wii U one, but I ended up putting about 200 hours into it within the first month or something. Co-op with friends is a blast!
Monster Hunter isn’t for everyone though and there’s a pretty big learning curve. The game doesn’t tell you much and you’ll have to look up stuff to get a basic idea. There are basic tutorials in the game but if you’re willing to look up more things, then you’re in for a treat. It’s not necessary but it’ll make your hunting a whole lot better.
I can’t comment on Sonic, but its reception seems mixed. Pikmin 3 is great though but it’s over too soon :(.
EDIT: A fair few TAYbies also played MH3U as their first MH game and they loved it. Part of the experience was all of us discovering new things together 😀
Yeah, I was erring towards MH because of that, but I played it on Wii ages ago with my Brother, and I dunno…. Its a big time investment.
I think its probably going to be Nintendo Land for me.
Xbone is not as witty you think it is. I refer to it as Xbox One…Same way I referred to the 360 as Xbox 360. Call me old fashioned I guess…
I honestly don’t think Watch Dogs can live up to the hype.
Yeah I’m going to sit Watch Dogs out… I caved on Wolfenstein this weekend…
No regrets there…. Fan-Fucking-tastic
I feel like this sentiment has become so popular that it will probably end up being underrated.
and maybe people are so hyped up that they praise bad or repetitive game design. It can go both ways.
I have mates that have been playing the PC version, it appears to be a poorly optimized port 🙁
And was told by a couple of different people, it feels like a GTAV mod.
Both of these things upset me.
I’d say hold off until you get some feedback on the console versions. I know it sucks that you can’t play it on PC but it would be a shame for the game to be torn down for one bad port.
I dont do couch gaming unless its a drunken night with the mates, i have a beast of a PC so its PC or nothing really, since i dont own a PS4 or xbone.
It will be a shame if it ends up being that way for launch, but ah well.
It really seems like a Steam Sale type of game to me, or maybe I’m just sick of open world games.
Isn’t Worms Battlegrounds released on ‘the bone’ this week as well?
Haha ok, ok I cave! 🙂
Also worms and borderlands 2 out this week
Well I’m looking forward to Watch Dogs…I will be picking my PS4 copy up tonight at midnight but won’t play it until tomorrow night after work..
I would like to get the PC version as well just to see did Ubisoft optimise it for PC or is it another crappy console port…also from the specs it will make my PC cry (so I see this game being another video card reviewers sample game)
Early reports of the PC version (from the people playing the “demo” *cough* torrent *cough*) is that it’s a bit choppy even at low-medium textures (when using driving with sportscars)…so I expect a day 1 or day 2 patch for the PC players (or it could be because of the Bitcoin malware on some of the downloaded copies…lol)
It ran pretty smooth for me, I am on Nvidia if that helps? I had everything absolutely maxed at 1200p and never had frame drop.
To give you a comparison it runs smoother on my Machine than AC4 Black Flag did.
It does feel like a pretty direct port though.
I believe it depends on people’s setups I guess…
Watch Dogs does have some pretty steep system requirements though
Why not just xbox as the xbox 360 is just 360 abs none uses an XBOX any more so xbox seems fine
technically X just brings your phone out and allows you to scan everything/everyone. once in the mode you hold X to hack! ¶:Þ
title should read Press X to get into hacking mode, then hold X to hack!
Sweet time for being a nerd.
Still plowing through some later trials levels
Watchdogs around the corner for me on PC
Mariokart preordered (and I’ll be getting Wind Waker HD with my free game download from ninty)
X-men this week
UFC on xbox one in 3 weeks
If I find a lull I’ll be picking up Wolfenstein
…. Game of thrones tonight
BRING IT ON !!!!
nope, delayed due to memorial day
Yeah I read that after I posted…. le sad 🙁
Don’t forget Wildstar has an early release this week and the Dog Fighting module is out for Star Citizen.
Wasn’t Watchdogs on the WiiU delayed or has that changed?
Sadly bud there is no GOT tonight even in the USA…. Public holiday in the states so on “Hiatus”
wrong page.