Monthly Archives: September 2019

Street Fighter V to Join Intel World Open Tournament Series

Street Fighter V_ Arcade Edition – Cinematic Opening - YouTube

Intel announced today that the Intel World Open Tournament will take place in Tokyo, ahead of the Olympic Summer Games next year, to showcase the influence and excitement of esports. A part of this tournament will be Street Fighter V, and qualifiers will kick off in Early 2020. Any player, at any skill level can compete for a shot at joining their national team.

A live qualifier event in Katowice, Poland in June will determine which teams will advance to the championship esports tournament in Tokyo from July 22 – 24, leading into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The final live event will take place in Tokyo, at the Zepp DiverCity venue, in the central Olympic Games area. Champions representing their nation will be crowned in two different tournaments featuring leading esports titles, Street Fighter V and Rocket League. The prize pool? A staggering 250,000 dollars.

Tournament Structure/Details:

  • National Qualifiers: 12 countries are pre-selected to form national teams. The national qualifiers will begin March and determine each country’s four best players who will come together and form the national team of that country. The national qualifiers will last four to eight weeks, and there will be no limit on the number of participants. Once the final national teams form, they advance to Poland in June for the semi-finals.
  • Regional Qualifiers: Players outside of the 12 pre-selected national team countries can participate through the regional qualifier process that will take place between March and May.  Eight teams will advance to the semi-finals in Poland through the regional qualifier process.
  • Live Qualifier in Katowice, Poland: The final qualifier will be held in June in Katowice, Poland and feature four days of team events. 20 teams will compete in a group stage qualifier to determine the strongest team from the Americas, EEMEA and APEC regions. The final seven teams will join the Japanese team in the finals in Japan.
  • Tokyo Final Event: The main event takes place in July 22-24, 2020 at the Zepp DiverCity venue where qualifying teams will participate in a two-day, winner take all tournament. The overall winners will claim the majority share of the $250,000 USD prize pool.
  • Additional Details: Further information on the tournament will be announced in October.

Endless Space 2 – Awakening – Prologue

Endless Space 2‘s next DLC is “Awakening”, which unveils the Major Faction, the Nakalim, which will be playable. It also adds the Academy Empire, and the ability to interact directly with Isyander.  Let’s peek at the prologue today.

The Nakalim differ from other factions, in that they start off very technologically advanced, as opposed to needing to grow and expand right off the bat. They are a faction that has been awaked from a dormant state.

Awakening Expansion Content:

  • Nakalim – The aforementioned new playable faction has a large technology head start, balanced by weak science per turn. They depend on discovering lost Relics to learn new technologies. Their relationship with the Academy allows them to gain control over other systems through the Influence of their temples.
    • Four new Heroes – The Nakalim are explorers, warriors, and believers. Use these heroes to master exploration and for developing systems and diplomatic influence.
    • New fleet – Re-discover and take control of your ancient territories with heavily defended exploration-oriented fleets.
  • Minor Faction – Xirmisala – Dust-sensitive philosophers whose skills were defined by the community via a Games2Gether vote.
  • Academy empire – The Academy has always been the training ground for Endless Space’s legendary heroes. In “Awakening”, the Academy becomes an empire with the ability to manage star systems, fleets, and colonize new worlds. Contribute to their expansion, and you will be duly rewarded with special Academy roles that will give you special powers and bonuses, as well as access to the Academy’s own fleet of impressive ships.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV – TGS 2019 Trailer

Hegemony (noun): leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation.

Koei Tecmo released a new trailer for the upcoming Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV, during Tokyo Game Show 2019. Prepare to paint the land of China with your colors, when the battle for hegemony begins anew! It’s coming in early 2020 from Koei Tecmo to PC and Playstation 4, and will have 46 cities and 340 regions. Each region will have its own source of income, which will be gathered via the collection of tiles. The more land you hold, the better resources.

Land is incredibly important, as is strategy, and in RTKXIV, the ability to recreate famous battles will be possible, such as Zhuge Liang’s northern expeditions. Furthermore, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 introduces a new government structure to each faction to help broaden the range of possible strategies. By assigning officers in appropriate positions in an organizational chart, factions develop a unique set of effects and commands; and depending on how the government is organized, the same faction can end up having widely different strategies available.

Government has five divisions: war, logistics, strategy, administration, and HR, and the organization’s chart varies depending on the principal of the leader. Among the six types of principles, examples include Liu Bei’s benevolence, Sun Quan’s secession, and Cao Cao’s supremacy – a principle that is more likely to benefit from a constant state of war.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Launches in America in January 2020

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot aims to be the most accurate retelling of Goku’s life, and will take players through their favorite DBZ story arcs, as they meet friends, battle foes, and bring some Dragon Ball Z mysteries to light. Bandai Namco also announced that DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT will also be available in Deluxe, Ultimate, and Collector’s Editions along with a Super Saiyan Pre-Order offer

Yakuza 7 Coming to the West in 2020

The Yakuza franchise celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2020, with the next title in the series: Ryu Ga Gotoku 7/Yakuza: Like a DragonYakuza: Like a Dragon introduces a new protagonist after the events of Yakuza 6, in the form of Ichiban Kasuga. Kasuga is a low-level Yakuza member, aiming to prove his worth, and go from rags to riches.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is far more than a new entry into the franchise, but is also a complete reimagining of the franchise itself. A new city (Ijincho, Yokohama), and a new side of Japan will be seen. The combat system is seeing a fresh look too, combining the series’ popular brawling with a turn-based RPG system. Toshihiro Nagoshi is bringing something fresh to this long-standing franchise, and we have an extended trailer today. The most important thing: Yakuza: Like a Dragon is on the way to the West in 2020.

Mosaic

Mosaic is a narrative-driven adventure game following the monotonous life of a lonely man in a cold city. That is, until one day, everything changes.

Business Model: Buy-to-Play

Microtransactions: No

Key Features:

Diamonds in the Rough: Dive into surrealistic daydreams and abstract nightmares as you steadily unearth little bits of meaning among mountains of mundane.

Blair Witch

From the makers of Layers of Fear, Bloober Team, comes a first person psychological horror game, based on the cinematic lore from the movie of the same name: Blair Witch.

Business Model: Retail Purchase, Steam, Xbox, $29.99

Microtransactions: No

Key Features:

Immersive Story: Face the Blair Witch in first person.

Spooky: Visit a woods and structures within where time and space play by unfamiliar rules.

Bork Bork: You can pet the dog, Bullet. How you treat the dog will affect your gameplay experience.