Spider-Man has surpassed God of War to become the fastest selling first-party PlayStation game ever.
Sony has revealed that Spider-Man sold an astonishing 3.3 million copies within just three days of its release. That's better than the 3.1 million copies that God of War sold in that same time frame, which was better than the 2.7 million copies that Uncharted 4 sold during its first week of availability.
USA Today estimates that Spider-Man for PS4 made about $198 million off those initial 3.3 million copies. What's important to keep in mind is that that estimate is based on the assumption that everybody bought the $59.99 copy of the game (which isn't true). In any case, that low-ball estimation surpasses the $117 million opening weekend that Spider-Man Homecoming enjoyed.
Speaking to USA Today, Stephen Turvey, PlayStation global senior vice president of sales and head of North America business operations, stated that the company had set their expectations for the game at the highest level and that the title "met and exceeded all expectations." He also stated that Insomniac Games brought "Spider-Man back to gaming in a way that you want to experience it."
There are a few things to unpack from these numbers. First off, Sony's ability to turn exclusives into true system sellers is starting to reach Nintendo levels of impressiveness and sustainability. It appears that we might be moving past the age of gimmicks and raw console power and into a time where the market is dictating that whoever has the best games shall win the console war.
The other thing to note is that Spider-Man's success will almost assuredly inspire Marvel to start giving some of their other properties to big name studios in order to replicate the success of Insomniac's title. That can only mean good things for gamers and Marvel fans.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
An animated Diablo series may soon be coming to Netflix.
Andrew Cosby, founder of Boom! Studios, has tweeted that he's in final talks with Netflix regarding an animated adaption of the Diablo series. The original tweet has since been deleted, but it stated that Cosby hopes "to the High Heavens" that it "all works out," which would tend to suggest that the deal is not final at this time.
However, that initial tweet was enough to inspire people to do some digging into the situation. It seems that Cosby has previously spoken about his interest in doing a Diablo series and noted that if he were to do one, it would "DEFINITELY be Rated R." While there's no word at this time regarding whether or not he has stuck by his guns and is still insisting that an adaptation of Diablo be R-Rated, we don't think it's that much of a stretch to suggest that Netflix would be into that.
Blizzard isn't saying anything about these rumors at the moment, but previous statements from the company suggest that this adaptation may indeed be in the works. Blizzard community manager Brandy Camel previously suggested that the studio is working on several projects related to the Diablo franchise. At the time, it was widely speculated that they were referring to multiple games (like a Diablo II remake). However, it makes a lot of sense that one of those projects is actually an animated series.
As for Cosby, he seems like the perfect guy to run such an adaptation. He's clearly passionate about the Diablofranchise, has worked on a variety of "adult-oriented" properties, and has even worked on projects related to video games in the past. All in all, we're excited by the potential of this project and look forward to bringing you more information on this project as it becomes available.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Destiny 2's most ridiculed weapon is finally going to be fixed.
Ever since Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion launched, players have noticed that they've been receiving an unusual amount of the legendary grenade launcher, the Edge Transit. While receiving a lot of a legendary item is usually pretty good in loot games, there are a couple of problems with the Edge Transit that have caused Destiny 2 fans to start pulling their hair out whenever they see it.
First off, it's not a very good weapon. It's fine, but it's not a top-tier item in its category by any means. Second, Destiny 2's loot system utilizes a kind of vague classification system. That means that you will pick up a Legendary engram without actually knowing what's in it. In a perfect world, picking up a legendary engram means that you have fairly decent odds of acquiring a top-tier, rare item. In the world of Destiny 2, it probably means that you've picked up another Edge Transit.
Because Destiny 2 doesn't feature a Hearthstone like fail-safe that prevents you from receiving duplicate legendaries, players have had their hopes dashed time and time again when they opened their new Engram only to find that it contains yet another Edge Transit. Until now, the popular theory has been that Bungie just didn't add enough legendary power weapons to Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion. However, Bungie says that there's just a bug in the game's code.
"Since the launch of Destiny 2: Forsaken, we have heard player feedback regarding the aggressive drop rates of the Edge Transit grenade launcher," says Bungie in a weekly update. "Our investigation has confirmed that this weapon is dropping more frequently than intended, and we are pursuing a fix for a future update."
There's no word on when they update will hit, but it's likely that Bungie will expedite it do to the relatively simple nature of the problem and the fact that Destiny's fans are starting to lose their sense of humor about the problem.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Capcom is in a bit of hot water after uploading a trailer for Devil May Cry 5 that featured a song from a band whose lead singer is being investigated for sexual assault.
The song in question, Subhuman, was reportedly intended to be Dante's battle theme in the upcoming sequel. When fans heard it in a recent trailer, though, they immediately lashed out against the choice of music. Interestingly, it seems that much of the initial backlash concerned the quality of the song itself. As the criticisms raged on, though, some who are familiar with the band's (Suicide Silence) lead singer (Eddie Hermida) noted that they can't believe Capcom would choose to feature music from this band considering the legal situation that Hermida is currently in.
It seems that a girl has accused Hermida of manipulating her to send nude photos of herself when she was only 17. According to a post she made on Facebook (which has since been removed but reported on by Kotaku), she said that the singer "manipulated me into sending him nudes, which I was totally against. But hey, if your idol wants nudes, you send them.”
Hermida addressed the matter by apologizing for his actions and stating that was raised to be "respectful to all women" and apologizes that he has failed.
As for Capcom, they have pulled the video in question and say that they will not promote the song anymore. However, they're still not sure whether or not they will include it in the final version of the game.
"The music was recorded for the game before the incident came to light and we were unaware of the incident until now," says Capcom. "We are also currently evaluating what options are possible for the full game at this point, which is dependent on various factors such as resources.”
Given that the song was seemingly going to featured somewhat heavily in the final title, and that Devil May Cry 5 is going to be released on March 8, 2019, it will certainly be interesting to see whether or not the song in question makes it into the final build of the game.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Telltale Games has reportedly suffered massive layoffs that suggest the studio will be shutting down before long.
Earlier today, Telltale employees took to Twitter and other social media sites to state that they had lost their jobs. As the numbers grew, it became clear that these were not isolated incidents. However, the extent of the layoffs was not yet known.
Now, though, Gamasutra and other sites are reporting that sources close to the situation have announced that Telltale Games has laid off an astonishing 225 employees. That means that a small crew of 25 employees remain on staff. The identity and job titles of those employees are unknown at this time.
Here's what we do know: these layoffs mean that Telltale Games will not release The Wolf Among Us 2, Stranger Things, or any other games that they had previously announced they are working on. This also presumably means that they will not be moving away from their infamous in-house engine as has been previously suggested. Our understanding at this time is that Telltale Games' skeleton staff is going to finish developing The Walking Dead's final season. Beyond that, there seems to be very little chance that the studio will remain open.
This is the latest in a long line of unfortunate incidents for the studio. Last year, they laid off 25 percent of their staff. They were then sued by co-founder Kevin Bruner (who has taken to his blog to share his sadness over the news that so many talented people have lost their jobs). Things seemed to have been looking up for the studio when they revealed several high-profile new projects and plans for the future, but it seems like the true story of what was going on was far direr than anyone could have suspected.
We wish every Telltale employee that lost their job today the best of luck moving forward, and we will continue to update you on this situation as more information becomes available.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Activision has confirmed that the next Call of Duty game will be Black Ops 4. The publisher has promised to reveal more information about the game on May 17 during a live stream event. What we do know is that veteran CoD studio Treyarch is developing the game.
Some reports suggest that Treyarch is even working on a Switch version of Black Ops 4. Whether or not that version of the game will launch alongside the other versions of Black Ops 4 has not been confirmed at this time. There are also reports that Black Ops 4 might be available via Battle.net.
It makes sense that the next Call of Duty title would be Black Ops 4 considering the previous release schedule of recent Call of Duty games. Recently, Black Ops games have arrived on a three-year release schedule and it has been three years since the last Black Ops title. Furthermore, the Black Opsgames have historically sold quite well in comparison to even the "main" games in the Call of Dutyfranchise.
What is somewhat surprising is the rumored notion that Black Ops 4's setting may be impacted by the negative reception to recent Call of Duty titles. Historically, the Black Opsgames have kind of marched to their own beat. As such, it's admittedly odd to consider that the next installment in the franchise may adopt a more crowd-pleasing setting and tone. Of course, we have no doubt that some of the trademark weirdness of Black Opsseries will live on regardless of the era this game happens to take place in.
Here's what else we know about the game:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Trailer
A new gameplay overview trailer is here. Check out everything you can do in this year's Call of Duty game:
This next trailer shows off the game running on PC. Here it is:
Treyarch has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is getting a Heist mode, which pits two teams against each other to recover a bag full of cash and extract it. Players have limited lives and start the match with pistols, although more powerful weapons and supplies are scattered around the map. All that stuff is in limited supply too though, adding a bit of a survival aspect to the proceedings.
You can check out all the details in the video below:
The first multiplayer trailer has arrived and it showcases all the explosive online combat action you should expect in this new installment. Check it out below:
You can watch the very first teaser trailer below:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Royale
We've spent some time with Blackout, Call of Duty's new battle royale mode, and loved what we saw. You can read our impressions of the Blackout beta here. Or you can watch some footage below:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Release Date
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will arrive on Oct. 12, 2018. It's coming to PS4, XBO, and PC.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies
The latest trailer for Black Ops 4 Zombie Mode conveys what would happen if zombies invaded the Titanic. Yes, we're quite serious.
Black Ops 4's zombie mode is shaping up to be the series' largest and most impressive take on the concept yet. From time travel to custom match options, you can read about all of the mode's features here.
John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors.
Call of Cthulhuis a new detective game that takes place in the grotesque world of H.P. Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror. Strange creatures from beyond our plane of existence, gruesome murders, and an evil cult make up the meat of this yarn, which might very well be the best game based on the Lovecraftian mythos.
Though the dark cosmic entity known as Cthulhu has made quite a few appearances in video games over the years, few titles have attempted to really capture the Lovecraftian horror atmosphere that typically accompanies the tentacled wonder's exploits. In fact, the last game that was able to really successfully convey the horrific elements of this character's world was 2005's Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.
This journey into madness comes to us courtesy of developer Cyanide Studio, who you may know from their work on the Blood Bowl series. Though the studio has never developed a pure horror game before, you would never know it based on Call of Cthulhu's trailers, which show private investigator Edward Pierce navigating the terrifying island known as Darkwater in order to investigate a mysterious string of deaths.
Here's everything we know about the game:
Call of Cthulhu Trailer
Here's a new look at the horrors that await you inside Call of Cthulhu:
Focus Home Interactive has dropped a full hour of Call of Cthulhu gameplay. Get a taste fo the game below:
A trailer also arrived at Gamescom 2018! Check it out below:
And here's the trailer from E3 2018:
Check out the trailer from E3 2017:
Here's another preview - titled Depths of Madness - gives us a brief glimpse at protagonist Edward Blake's descent into Lovecraftian madness.
The upcoming Call of Cthulhu game may not share a direct lineage with Dark Corners of the Earth but, if its first trailer is any indication, this project most certainly shares that title's love for a good gothic atmosphere.
Call of Cthulhu will arrive on Oct. 30, 2018. It's coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.
Call of Cthulhu Story
Here's the official synopsis:
Plunge into the troubled mind of private investigator Edward Pierce, as his perception of reality becomes more and more skewed the closer he gets to the Great Dreamer’s sphere of influence. Clutch to your withering sanity to discover the conspiracies, the cultists and otherworldly terrors that inhabit the twisted universe imagined by Lovecraft… it is said that madness is the only way that can bring you to the truth.
Sent to Darkwater Island to uncover the truth behind a mysterious death of a family, your original assignment spirals out of control against a backdrop of suspicious locals, mutilated whales, and disappearing bodies. Pierce’s mind will suffer - balancing a razor-thin line between sanity and madness, your senses will be disrupted until you question the reality of everything around you. Trust no one. Creeping shadows hide lurking figures… and all the while, the Great Dreamer prepares for his awakening.
We'll keep you updated as we learn more!
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors.
John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.
It’s been said that the internet’s fondness for boiling everything down to memes can be attributed to an individual user's desire to feel like he or she is part of a more traditional social circle. Memes turn certain events and ideas into an image and a couple of lines. Being able to understand these memes on sight inspires a sense of community and belonging.
Ultimately, it's almost impossible for any popular entertainment release to not ultimately be boiled down to a series of memes. They turn cultural touchstones into an inside joke and sometimes strengthen the connection that people feel with the original product itself. For instance, when Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season One released in 2012, it was hailed far and wide as the future of the adventure genre. Telltale had experimented with the game’s “choose your own adventure” story structure before, but The Walking Dead was the studio's first game that truly showed the potential of the concept. It's also the game that many point to when lamenting the studio's apparent closure.
Gamers immediately identified with the game’s branching narrative and classic characters. It resonated with millions who immediately realized they’ve always wanted to shape an episodic adventure they were emotionally invested in, but simply figured that such a thing was not possible. Naturally, this incredibly popular and revolutionary game was eventually boiled down to a single line that became something of a meme: “Clementine Will Remember That.”
The phrase “Clementine Will Remember That” references an on-screen message that appears early in the game shortly after the player decides how to address Clementine, a little girl whose parents have gone missing right at the start of the zombie apocalypse. Dialogue choices in gaming are nothing new, but it’s the ambiguity of that message that makes it so iconic. “What will she remember?” “What did I say again?” “Is that going to matter later on?”
“Clementine Will Remember That” came to summarize The Walking Dead because that game's storytelling suggested that the future of single-player narratives was bright and complex. The moment that dialogue appeared on screen, gamers everywhere began dreaming of stories in which choices in gaming moved beyond simply selecting a pre-set path and extended to inflicting consequences on the player that were beyond their direct control but still influenced by the nature of their actions. It was powerful enough to make you feel kind of silly when realized that the "Clementine Won't Remember That" phrase ultimately came to be associated with online jokes involving the blue shells from Mario Kart, theoretically witty political remarks, and another such meme humor.
Then again, “Clementine Will Remember That” turned out to be more of a joke than it was a glimpse into gaming’s future.
Take a look at this flowchart that shows the outcome of every major choice in The Walking Dead: Season One and how they affect the rest of the game. The first thing you’ll notice about this chart is how linear it is. The only episode in The Walking Dead’s first season that is split into two distinct paths based on previous choices is the second episode, Starved for Help. Even then, most of the differences involve which characters participate in the same basic events.
You may also notice that this chart features almost no mention of how the relationships you establish with your fellow survivors affects the flow of the story. Put simply, that’s because those particular choices don't really affect the overall narrative. They may result in some occasionally altered conversations, but it turns out most of the people you interact with in The Walking Dead have the memory of a goldfish and struggle to hold your words against you for more than a few moments.
Looking at an outline of the game’s plot from a bird’s eye perspective, you begin to understand why it is that Telltale felt the need to need to constantly ensure the story returned to a designated path. Try to imagine a version of that chart where every significant dialogue choice and fork in the road decision caused The Walking Dead to branch off into new paths that occasionally intersected. The final flowchart for that narrative would likely resemble an even more complex version of Final Fantasy X’s impressive skill tree. Every single dialog choice would veer the story slightly into an entirely new direction.
As impressive as such a plot would theoretically be, you have to consider the kind of story such a structure would result in. Even though we often compare Telltale games like The Walking Dead to choose your own adventure stories, the two styles are not actually similar. Choose your own adventure stories can conclusively end at any time and often offer little more than a series of barely simplistic plot threads vaguely tied together by nothing more than the binding of the book.
The Walking Dead doesn’t suffer from that particular shortcoming. It’s a tremendous story that speaks to people in ways that the much larger Walking Dead show does not. It is, however, a story that would have been nearly impossible to tell had Telltale strayed too far from a more conventional act-based structure. Because of this, you want to forgive Telltale for creating an illusion of choice in order to tell a story which still benefited greatly from the options presented to you. After all, they were still trying to understand how their own design formula worked and such a process usually involves heavy amounts of trial and error.
You want to forgive them, but then you remember that phrase “Clementine Will Remember That,” and you realize that there was deception behind that suggestion that still cuts deep. It sometimes feels wrong that The Walking Dead's legacy has been boiled down to a phrase that is ultimately meaningless within the context of the game itself. You can curse at Clementine, be the father she needs, or vary between both at your leisure. None of it really matters. In the end, she is going to end up kneeling beside Lee as his wounds slowly consume him.
When you realize that, you start to wonder what the point of it all was. If the only real choices in the game were the obvious ones that inevitably led to the same path, were you really being offered choices at all? What happened to the idea that your every decision could lead to ramifications down the line? As it turns out, such decisions often offer about the same level of meaningful progress as walking left in Super Mario Bros. does.
As easy as it is to become disheartened by the realization that The Walking Dead is partially built on smoke and mirrors, you have to understand that the legacy of any influential game and the studio that made it is not always confined to its original code. In the case of The Walking Dead, the game's ideas about non-linear episodic storytelling proved to be far more influential than its execution of that concept.
With Until Dawn, developer Supermassive Games utilized a slightly more intricate choice system to finally give gamers a proper ‘80s slasher adventure to call their own. It wasn't perfect, but consequences can spring from the most seemingly minor choices in that game. In Life Is Strange, developer Dontnod Entertainment delivered a serialized story that features some of the most intricate choice-based conversations you’ll ever participate in. Just look at this breakdown of the various ways a single conversation in that game can develop based on simple dialogue choices.
Outside of that particular sub-genre, other games which preceded the release of The Walking Dead, such as Heavy Rain, Silent Hill 2, and Alpha Protocol,have featured various endings which are triggered through the player’s natural actions rather than specific options that determine the direction of the story. It wasn't a new concept pioneered by The Walking Dead, but it was one that The Walking Dead helped reignite.
Even when you take into account these exceptions, you’re still left with the feeling that developers are still trying to solve the riddle of how to incorporate organic consequences into serialized storytelling in a way that doesn’t sacrifice the integrity of the overall narrative for the sake of options. We've seen the legacy of franchises as beloved as Mass Effect forever compromised by the developer's inability to capitalize on their promise of a truly dynamic choice-based system. It's enough to make you wonder whether the fear of failure will dissuade future developers from fully realizing the potential of a promise made long ago.
But what of The Walking Dead? Years after its release - and after the apparent sudden fall of its creators - how should we remember a game that's trademark features ultimately served to hide the man behind the curtain? It’s tempting to disown it. To write off its success as a product of the times and playfully mock it’s once iconic moments with the rest of the online brigade. “Clementine will remember that? Lul.” Yet, The Walking Dead’s role in history should not be so easily brushed aside. Whatever its shortcomings were, it inspired many to believe that games can deliver the kind of compelling narrative that only games can deliver; one that is dictated by the individuality of the person experiencing it.
No, Clementine won’t remember you told her everything was going to be alright, killed that man in the barn, or gave the last cheese and breadstick snack to Duck. However, the millions that experienced those moments and dreamed of a new age of video game storytelling will certainly never forget moments like those. That's the game and developer Telltale's real legacy. They were the light that showed us a path to a future that we haven't quite fully-forged just yet.
Melissa Hutchison, the voice actor who played Clementine in Telltale's The Walking Dead series, is seemingly suggesting that the game's final season will not be completed.
"I, unfortunately, like most of you, do not have the details on how this all came to be and I also do not know the fate of the final season of TWD," said Hutchinson via Twitter. "To my knowledge, they will release Episode 2 and then that will be it. It hurts me that you, the fans, will not get to see Clem's journey through to the end. It hurts me that all of the insanely talented people who made this game won't get to see all of their hard work played out, and are instead thrust into having to now having to look for work. It hurts to know that all of the extremely talented actors who lent voice to this final season won't get to experience the final ending of one of the best damn game titles in the history of games."
Hutchison goes on to say that she thanks Telltale for their work on the series and that she still considered them to be the best "narrative, story-driven game company ever."
Sadly, her statements regarding The Walking Dead's final season match what we've been hearing about the status of that franchise ever since the massive layoffs at Telltale Games. US Gamer is citing sources close to the development of the series that claim Telltale does not intend to finish the game's long-awaited final season.
That news leaves us with many questions? What, exactly, happened at Telltale that made it necessary to effectively shut the studio down before they could even finish the final season of their most famous franchise? What happens to those who purchased a season pass for the game's final season and will seemingly not get full value out of it? Does Telltale intend to release the final plot points for The Walking Dead's final season in any format?
While Telltale hasn't confirmed that they do not plan to finish The Walking Dead's final season, we'd be shocked if they announce anything but the effective end of the series and their future plans to shut down the remainder of the studio.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Telltale may not be in a position to make the previously promised adaptation of Stranger Things, but Netflix is apparently still looking to turn the popular series into a video game.
“We are saddened by news about Telltale Games,” said Netflix in a statement to Polygon. "They developed many great games in the past and left an indelible mark in the industry. Minecraft: Story Modeis still moving forward as planned. We are in the process of evaluating other options for bringing the Stranger Things universe to life in an interactive medium.”
This information helps support some of the more popular rumors that have emerged following Telltale's demise. We've already heard that the skeleton crew left behind in the wake of the Telltale layoffs are there to work on Minecraft: Story Mode (which Netflix seemingly confirms), and it was suggested that The Wolf Among Us 2 and Stranger Things had been canceled as a result of the studio's soft closure. Those both appear to be true.
Now, we have even more reason to believe that The Walking Dead's final season will indeed not be finished (as some close to the project have suggested). We just can't believe that the reportedly 25 person crew who make up Telltale's current staff would be able to finish such a project given the apparent desperate state of the company.
What of Stranger Things, though? Well, we've seen some small Stranger Things games in the past, but Netflix's suggestion that they're still pursuing the option to bring the "Stranger Things universe to life in an interactive medium" tends to suggest that they're probably looking to team with another developer to produce a more substantial take on the series.
We're not sure who that might be, but we imagine that Telltale appealed to Netflix because of their "film-like" game design and the fact they were probably willing to work for cheap. It'll be interesting to see who gets the next shot at the property.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
About 15 minutes into the recent match, a group of protesters (which seemed to be comprised of fans of both clubs) began throwing PS4 controllers and tennis balls onto the pitch. The controllers seemed to bear the words "Fuck eSports." Other fans unfurled a giant banner featuring a pause button while even more fans helped hold up a massive sign that would literally translate to "Shit eSports" but could possibly be interpreted to mean "eSports Are Shit" or something similar. The protest interrupted the game for a few minutes and then dissipated.
What is this all about? Well, it appears that there is a growing number of soccer/football fans who are upset with their clubs' interest in expanding into the world of eSports. The FC Basel club has an official eSports team, and there are rumors that the Swiss league in question may ask all clubs to participate in an official eSports organization.
At the moment, the popular theory is that these fans are upset at the idea of their favorite clubs spending money on eSports when they could be spending money on absolutely anything else related to the actual team. As there doesn't seem to be an official statement from the protesters in question, that certainly seems to be the best theory available at the moment regarding what is going on here.
However, there's reason to believe that this whole thing dates back to the battle between "real" sports fans and fans of eSports. It would be inaccurate and irresponsible to suggest that there isn't crossover between the two groups or even quite a few people who harbor a live and let live mentality, but there are certainly those from both sides who refuse to get along with the other side. As you can tell from the aforementioned protest, the most heated hostility between the groups hasn't exactly cooled down.
It remains to be seen whether similar protests occur in the near future, but it feels fair to say that this debate isn't going to go away any time soon.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Devil May Cry 5 will reportedly support online multiplayer for up to three people.
While Capcom has yet to reveal the feature, the game's PlayStation store listing notes that it supports multiplayer for up to two or three players. In lieu of any official details, fans are speculating that the game's three playable characters (Nero, V, and Dante) will likely be involved in some kind of side mode that will see them face off against a horde of enemies or some similar level of opposition. At the moment, few suspect that the game's multiplayer will be tied into the main storyline.
For what it's worth, Devil May Cry 5 director Hideaki Itsuno told Eurogamer that the team "designed this game specifically to make the best single-player experience we can" and that single-player has "always been the focus." However, he did say that we will have to "wait and see" regarding the game's online and multiplayer functionality.
The idea of multiplayer in Devil May Cry is certainly enough to get fans talking, but nothing has generated more buzz about the game than the reveal of its microtransaction system. Yes, Devil May Cry 5 will feature microtransactions that let you buy orbs at Divinity Statues in order to level up your character. This isn't the first time that a Devil May Cry game has featured such a system (nor is it the only controversy surrounding this game), but Itsuno still felt the need to assure gamers that this system will not really impact those who just want to play the game.
"With giving people the ability to purchase Red Orbs, it's something we want to give people as an option," said Itsuno in an interview with Gamespot. "If they want to save time and just want to get all the stuff at once, those people can do that. But on the other hand, I don't feel you have to get all the moves. You should be able to play it the way you want to play it."
The hope is that Devil May Cry 5's microtransaction system will just be there for those who value their time more than the money they spend leveling up their character faster. Nevertheless, some still worry that it will have an impact on how resources are distributed in-game.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Brace yourselves because this one is about to get weird. It turns out there's this item in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe called the Super Crown which transforms characters into some kind of version of Princess Peach (or at least they take on aspects of that character). What initially caught the internet's attention is the fact that when Toadette puts the crown on, she becomes Peachette. This raised many questions regarding the full abilities of this item and whether or not it is going to add some new characters to the Mario universe.
The conversation became that much more interesting when people started asking, "What happens when Bowser puts on the Super Crown?"
We don't know the official answer to that question, but the people of the internet have decided that such an interaction should result in Bowsette. Who is Bowsette? She's the Princess Peach version of Bowser that has already developed quite a following despite the fact that she technically doesn't exist within the Mario universe. It's not entirely clear who is responsible for this concept, but Eurogamer and others are saying that artist aykk92 is responsible for popularizing the idea via a comic strip in which Mario leaves Peach for Bowsette.
That's far from the only piece of fan art that portrays Bowsette, though. It seems that just about every internet artist has their own interpretation of what this character looks like. Most seem to agree that she'll sport a pair of horns and the general consensus is that she wears black. There are already people cosplaying as Bowsette and others who argue that her technical name should be "Peacher" (based on the Toadette to Peachette transformation).
Before you start diving deep into this particular fan art well, you should know that the obsession with Bowsette (as we choose to call her) has already spiraled into fan art porn. Actually, it got there pretty quickly. So while we don't know exactly what happens when Bowser puts on the Super Crown, we can tell you that it probably won't look like some of the more recent images of Bowsette.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
A small group of users are trying their hardest to "review bomb" the Steam version of Total War: Rome II over the game's use of female generals.
Initially released in 2013, Rome II has been updated fairly often since its debut. Six months ago, the developers released an update that added female generals to the armies of certain nations. It doesn't seem like the update generated much controversy upon its release, but a recent photo which showed an in-game boat full of female generals prompted some in the game's community to suggest that the developers had raised the appearance rate of female generals in the game in order to force the player to use them regardless of what faction they were playing.
Developer Creative Assembly addressed these concerns in a very official way. First, they assured players that they had checked the game's code and that the appearance rate of female generals was well within normal levels. In a statement issued to Eurogamer, the studio even confirmed what those appearance rates are. It seems that the "Greek States, Rome, Carthage, and some Eastern factions" offer a 0% chance of seeing a female general as a recruitable character, Kush offers a 50% drop rate, and every other faction works off of a standard 10-15% chance of seeing a female general within your army. According to the developers, these rates represent their desire to "broadly represent the cultural differences in those factions during the time the game is set."
That was the formal, factual, technical response. However, others with ties to Creative Assembly have rightfully taken to the game's forums to tell those who are upset by this matter that it's time to grow up.
"Total War games are historically authentic, not historically accurate - if having female units upsets you that much you can either mod them out or just not play," said Creative Assembly's community content editor via Steam. "People saying they won't buy the game because there are too many women in it is fine with us - if that's their reason, we'd rather they didn't anyway."
This female content editor later noted that they are not HR and that it is not their job to push a personal agenda. Instead, their statements represent the "views of the company." Sadly, those statements have resulted in certain online groups trying to get her fired or otherwise just taking the time to send some hateful statements her way.
Such as it stands, though, it doesn't seem that Creative Assembly has any plans in place to fire anyone or remove female generals. They also insist that anyone who is truly bothered by this can always just use mods to remove female generals from the game.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Gaming has always been a communal experience. All the way back to the days of arcades, friends and strangers have been getting together to play video games, whether it be competitively or as a team. Not much has changed about that communal aspect in the decades since arcades ruled the industry, but the venue certainly has.
Nowadays, gamers are spending less time at arcades and more time playing online, connected with friends through the power of reliable ISPs like my personal favorite, the lightning fast Fios Gigabit Connection from Verizon -- which is currently offering a deal that gets you internet speeds of up to 940/880 Mbps for $79.99/month with Auto Pay plus taxes, equipment charges, and other fees, as well as a Xbox Live Gold subscription for a year and a choice between two games (while supplies last), all with no annual contract.
If you play tons of online games on consoles, then you know that faster internet is pretty much synonymous with gaming culture, and Verizon’s Fios Gigabit Connection is quickly separating itself from the competition as one of the few providers of ultra-high-speed internet, thanks to its fiber optic network that allows its connection speeds to far outrace traditional cable internet providers. That means that cable internet, with its typical 25 to 100 Mbps connections, is a thing of the past. Verizon Fios Gigabit connection can hit speeds of 940/880 Mbps!
For those who have already been blessed with Fios Gigabit Connection, you know that you can play online blockbusters like Destiny, Warframe, Call of Duty’s new Blackout battle royale mode, Fortnite, and PUBG at high visual capacity with virtually no lag time. Fios Gigabit Connection allows you to keep on gaming and winning with less worrying about things like graphics drops or ping rates.
If you’re still on the fence about upgrading your internet to Fios Gigabit Connection, consider how faster internet has become the main ingredient in the evolution of the gaming industry since the ‘90s. Even before players were buying into the convenience of living room consoles for their online gaming, gamers were strapped to their desk chairs, blasting each other away on PC shooter titles like Quake and Team Fortress or adventuring in Neverwinter Nights, EverQuest, and Ultima Online, three of the most popular subscription-based MMORPGs of the ‘90s.
In the case of Neverwinter Nights specifically, one of the forefathers of current MMOs like World of Warcraft, the game wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for AOL and its innovative online portal that connected millions of users in the early days of the World Wide Web. AOL helped develop and hosted the game on its platform for its subscribers, allowing Dungeons & Dragons fans to leave the tabletop days behind and play with other fans all over the world. Yes, an internet service provider was behind one of the earliest iterations of the MMO genre. You better thank AOL next time you log onto World of Warcraft for a dungeon run.
As internet connection speeds continued to improve over the years, so did online games. In 1999, EverQuest became the first truly 3D MMORPG, thanks in part to the faster internet speeds that allowed the graphics to render to its millions of subscribers. That same year, the world welcomed the first version of online competitive shooter Counter-Strike, born as a Half-Life mod and destined to become one of the leading esports in the world. Today, Counter-Strike is the subject of tournaments with million-dollar prize pools and at the top echelon of the almost-billion dollar esports industry. Yeah, you can give ISPs a nod for the birth of the esports scene, too.
While online console games had been around in one form or the other since the ‘80s, innovations like Atari’s GameLine, Intellivision’s PlayCable, and the Sega MegaNet paled in comparison to Phantasy Star Online, the first online RPG for consoles. Sega even launched its own internet service, Sega NetLink, so that players could connect to the game’s servers through the Dreamcast.
Better, faster broadband connections opened the floodgates for both Microsoft’s Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, the online video game platforms we enjoy on consoles today. These services have brought the convenience of a one-stop shop for all things digital, including multiplayer gaming, shopping, and video streaming. Gamers these days can even enjoy seamless jump-in-jump-out multiplayer to build a fireteam in Destiny or go on heists in GTA Online.
So you see, faster internet continues to bolster the ever-changing landscape of gaming. What is to come in the era of gig-speed internet? The future, brought to you by services like Verizon Fios. Don’t get left behind.
John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.
It appears that someone with ties to Telltale Games has started releasing footage and concept art from the studio's planned adaptation of Netflix's Stranger Things.
The leaks are popping up everywhere, but this Reddit thread features some of the most notable pieces of footage that have appeared online as a result of these leaks. The majority of the leaked footage shows Will Byers wandering around his home, interacting with his mom, checking out the contents of a few drawers, and enjoying the new computer that his mom seems to have recently purchased.
The other, arguably more interesting, leaked sequence showcases someone (presumably Will) hiding from the Demogorgon. The reason the character's identity is uncertain is that this sequence plays out from a first-person perspective. This is something we really haven't seen much of in previous Telltale games (outside of the odd action sequence here and there), but it seems that the plan was to create a more modern first-person horror experience via these sequences.
Story-wise, it's a little hard to tell what Stranger Thing's season-long narrative would have been about. However, we do see Joyce Byers talking to Dr. Owens on the phone, which would tend to suggest that this series would have taken place after the show's second season or possibly right before it. Sadly, there's no official word regarding whether or not that is the case.
What fans are really obsessed with, though, is that this leaked footage appears to represent our first look at Telltale's promised new game engine (or at least a version of it). While certain aspects of the game's characters are clearly unfinished (their eyes are scarier than they Demogorgon), character animations appear to be significantly smoother than the animations featured in previous major Telltale games.
It's certainly worth reminding everyone that this footage is not "officially" from Telltale, but we'd be shocked to learn that these clips don't represent the progress the studio was making on this title. So far as that goes, it looks like it was shaping up to be a standard - if slightly more inventive - Telltale Games experience.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Release Date: September 18, 2018 Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Switch, PC Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Genre: Beat 'Em Up
Capcom has always been big on re-releases. That’s who the company is. It’s in its DNA. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times Street Fighter IIwas up for sale. Now, Capcom has hit a point when it can put together collections of 20-year-old classics in a brand new, nostalgic package.
With the 2D Street Fighter and Mega Man stuff already collected and out for current-gen consoles, Capcom went in a very intriguing direction for its next batch of re-releases. Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle was announced so abruptly, I’m surprised it isn’t a Cloverfieldtie-in.
The collection comes with seven games, spanning from Capcom making its mark on the genre with Final Fightin 1989 to 1997’s Battle Circuit, a more obscure beat em up releases at a time when the genre had gone out of style. What’s fantastic here is the diversity of the titles. Even if the gameplay is similar, each game has very different aesthetics for the most part. You have street gang warfare, colorful superheroes, medieval fantasy, giant robot battles, wacky bounty hunters from the future, and so on.
The unfortunate elephant in the room is that there are some absolute gems that aren’t included due to licensing issues. Games like Punisherand Alien vs. Predator are the pinnacle of beat ‘em ups, but are restricted by pesky licenses. Same with Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, which I admittedly haven’t played but hear great things about.
What we do have is still great. We start with Final Fight, which has aged extremely well for a game that’s nearly 30 years old. 1987’s Street Fighter still comes off as burning garbage, but this game from two years later holds very well. Everything looks great, sounds great, plays great, and outside of the final stage going on a little too long, the pacing is perfect. It’s easy to see why this grindhouse story of a wrestling mayor and his friends would integrate itself into the Street Fighter games over time.
The King of Dragons is a very different game that more heavily leans on skill. You have five characters to choose from with different stats that measure fighting and magic skills, range, and agility. The more you play, the more your characters level up. This game is probably the biggest departure from the Final Fight formula, but it works well, especially when jumping into multiplayer. It also features fantastic boss designs, including what is essentially Smaug in the finale.
Captain Commando is a game that looks like it should be completely awesome, but just doesn’t live up to its potential. The designs are great and I love the character selection (our titular superhero, a knife-wielding mummy, a ninja, and a baby in a mech), but it’s not different enough from Final Fight. Final Fightfeels more down-to-earth and the limited amount of attacks matches that feel. Captain Commando and his crew can do about the same amount of stuff, making the boss battles feel tedious. That in itself is an issue since every level is extremely short and dives too quickly into boss fights.
Knights of the Round feels like the weakest game on the list. Picking one of three heroes from Arthurian legend, you have to rely on sword combos and a block-and-counter system that I could never time correctly with PS4 controls. It’s not a bad game, but it really feels the least inspired of the bundle. I suppose being the only thematically redundant game (King of Dragons is the superior medieval entry) had a lot to do with that. I do like that each warrior's armor gets a visual upgrade as the characters level up.
Warriors of Fate is solid. Now, third-century China isn’t my go-to place for video game settings, but the gameplay makes up for it. Of the five playable characters, you can choose from bare-handed brawlers, swordsmen, or the worst archer I have ever seen. I mean, I suck at archery, but at least I can aim higher than my knee. These guys take part in a fairly straightforward take on the Final Fight style, but with more diverse fighting styles. I even like how riding a horse feels like a much bigger advantage than in Knights of the Round or the mechs from Captain Commando.
That it took so long for Armored Warriorsand Battle Circuitto make it to consoles is criminal.
Playing Armored Warriors for the first time is a definite, “Where have you been all my life?” moment. Sweet Jesus, this game rules. It’s a visual prequel (for lack of a better term) to the one-on-one fighter Cyberbotswhere you just go around in a giant robot and cut through leagues of enemy robots all while assimilating their tech and mowing down enemy gunmen who are stupid enough to get in the way. Really, the worst thing I can say about Armored Warriors is that it’s sometimes confusing when you see all these mechs crashing around on screen like a shaky-cam fight scene in a Transformersmovie.
Last but definitely not least is Battle Circuit. It’s a futuristic and cartoony adventure about outrageous bounty hunters constantly chasing down their mad scientist arch nemesis while being attacked at every turn by a street gang run by an Elvis impersonator. Our heroes – which include a girl riding an ostrich, a Venus flytrap, and other weirdoes – have the option to add to their movesets in-between levels by either buying new attacks or increasing their stats. There’s also the ability to add buffs during levels.
Now, the sidescroller beat’em up genre is, for better or worse, a relic of its time. It’s something that best exists in an arcade in the '90s where your endurance is linked to how much money your parents gave you to turn into tokens. That you had to specifically leave your house made it enough of a novelty that it remained shiny and fresh. Bringing these games home led to a balancing act that could kill their enjoyment.
In the SNES/Genesis days, developers would limit your continues and that would make the game frustrating and tedious. The gameplay is already in danger of becoming repetitive, but then you have to play through the early levels over and over again while knowing that screwing up and losing a life at a key point could ruin your run. On the other hand, an arcade-perfect port means unlimited continues and no real challenge. Plus the games are designed to be anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes long and once you’re done, you’ve usually seen all there is to offer.
You had to be charming as hell to work as a console beat ‘em up. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time was a damn miracle in retrospect.
While you can fiddle with each game to figure out how hard the AI is, how many lives you get per credit, languages, and other stuff, you’re ultimately left with a game that you can’t truly lose unless you choose to...times seven. That’s not to say that there isn’t replay value. Altogether, you have nearly 30 characters to choose from and a few of the games even have multiple endings depending on who you choose and/or whether you fulfill certain objectives. Granted, I can’t imagine anyone putting aside the time to see every single ending.
At least playing multiplayer spruces things up by allowing you and your friends to share the mindless joy of kicking ass with infinite lives or jumping in on an existing game online. That said, only Captain Commando and Battle Circuit allow you to have four players. Most other games only allow up to three and Final Fightonly allows two despite having three characters to choose from. I suppose I’m just spoiled from Konami giving us a 6-player X-Men game back in 1992.
In terms of extras, there’s not much. The bundle comes with an art gallery for each game, featuring preliminary concept art. Neat to see, but nothing mind-blowing.
What’s important here is the price. It’s only twenty bucks. Add tax and you get each game for about three bucks. Unlimited arcade play for twelve quarters apiece. Nitpicking and less-than-perfect star ratings don’t matter here because twenty dollars for this bundle is an absolute steal.
The bundle is a must-have for fans of '90s arcade games unless beat 'em ups really weren't your bag. It has classics and obscure gems that really should have been considered classics. Even the worst games are still worth wasting a half hour on. There’s no challenge thanks to the constant free play, but I suppose there is power in the freedom of being able to take down every single opponent that gets in your face no matter how many virtual tokens you have to spend.
Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and is bitter about stopping Scumocide’s evil plot exclusively as Mack the Knife, only for Captain Commando to take all the credit in the ending. Read more of Gavin’s articles here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L
Nintendo has revealed a new Pokemon and solved a mystery that has been plaguing Pokemon GO players.
Recently, Pokemon GO fans have spotted a mysterious new Pokemon that resembled a sentient hardware nut. What made the appearance of this new creature all the more bizarre was the fact that it would transform into a Ditto whenever players tried to capture it. Nobody really knew what to make of this, but that didn't stop fans from coming up with a variety of theories to explain this strange occurrence.
Fortunately (or unfortunately for all you fan fiction fans out there), Nintendo has stepped in to shed some official light on what this new Pokemon is and how it fits into the game's massive universe.
In a new video, we learn that this Pokemon's official name is Meltan. It turns out that Meltan is a mythical, Steel-type Pokemon that is made of liquid metal. Not only can Meltan corrode and absorb metal, but he also has the ability to use the metal he absorbs to generate electricity. Naturally, that means that it's able to utilize electric attacks (which seem to originate from its eye).
What makes this new Pokemon really interesting is the way that Nintendo is utilizing it. Not only has the Pokemon GO Twitter account notified fans that they should keep an eye out on their recently caught Dittos as they've heard reports that they are transforming into Meltans, but the video that Nintendo released which formally revealed Meltan was for the upcoming release of Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!.
While it's been strongly suggested that Let's Go and Pokemon GO will be closely tied together, the reveal of Meltan suggests that the relationship between the games may be closer than we previously anticipated. The idea of similar cross-promotions between the two games may certainly be enough to help both games generate a great deal of buzz in the coming months.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
Marvel thinks so highly of Insomniac's recently released Spider-Man game for PS4 that they're willing to compare it to the revolutionary Iron Man film.
"One of my fave parts of this video is when [Bryan] talks about how Marvel’sSpider-Man is intended as 'the Iron Man of Marvel video games,'"said Bill Roseman, Marvel Games' executive director of Spider-Man, in regards to this GameSpot/Kinda Funny video. "[That] is exactly how we view it. As with that first MCU hit, [Marvel's Spider-Man] kicks off a new era for Marvel console games."
That statement is notable for a few reasons. First off, it's fascinating to hear Marvel refer to Spider-Man as the start of a new era for Marvel video games, even though Marvel has been involved with recent games - such as Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - that adhere to and acknowledge the contributions and changes of the MCU. The implication of this statement is that Marvel was perhaps not happy with those games or at least didn't really see them as the start of a new era.
If you really want to dive into the implications of this statement, though, then you have to consider what this means for the future of Marvel games. The simplest takeaway from this statement is that Marvel is prepared to support more video games moving forward than they have perhaps done in recent years. That much seems obvious.
The question now is whether or not Insomniac will be developing more of those titles. We assume that there will be a sequel to Spider-Man developed by Insomniac, but will Marvel stick by the studio as their primary developer of future Marvel games? That seems unlikely given the exclusivity of Spider-Man and the time/money it takes for a single studio to develop such games, but it's not entirely out of the question to imply that Insomniac might get the chance to develop a game featuring another Marvel character (especially since its a record-breaking title).
On that note, you have to wonder whether or not Marvel is ready to approve a separate Marvel universe exclusive to gaming that uses Spider-Man as the foundation. Remember that Spider-Man not only ignores elements of the MCU but Spider-Man's established comic book history. If Marvel is referring to Spider-Man as the video game equivalent of the Iron Man film in the most literal way possible, that would seem to imply it might be the start of something big.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014.
In the world of video games, bosses aren't the kind of annoying authority figures that'll give you a last minute report to do or ask you to work late on a Friday. No, these bosses would rather take that report, roll it up into a ball, set fire to it, and throw it at your face.
The end level boss is almost as old as video gaming itself, and many genres have some form of superior foes awaiting you at the end of a level, area, or mission. These bosses are often large, overpowered beasts that make the baddies you've faced thus far seem tame in comparison, and they're usually the achievement you'll remember most from a game, especially if they're particularly tough.
Over the years we've faced innumerable boss fights, far more than we could possibly remember, but the ones that have stuck around are those that really pushed us to the limit and punished our mistakes. These are memorable, and special gaming moments, and we're going to share our own top 25 challenging boss encounters.
Of course, given the sheer amount of games out there, and the army of tough bosses we could include, we're going to have to establish a simple ground rule. We're only including one entry per game or series. Otherwise, the whole list would be made up of Final Fantasy and Dark Souls bosses.
We'll kick off the list with this encounter from the seminal survival horror series, Resident Evil. Depending on your previous actions, the Tyrant won't be as difficult as other bosses, but this is why he's on this list.
The fight takes place in the hold of a cargo plane, and the Tyrant himself can't be killed in the usual way. Instead, the only option you have is to damage him, keeping him at bay and weakening him until you can use a switch to send the plane's cargo flying into him, sending him flying into the great blue yonder without a parachute.
The problem here is that he can take a real beating, and normal weapons don't really cut it. For this fight you need powerful ammo, like the grenade launcher. Many players, especially those playing through for the first time, spend all of this ammo prior to the plane, and are left with little to take this beast on. Yes, you can actually beat him with no weapons, repeatedly hitting him with the cargo until he falls, but this isn't a tactic many know about, and you have to do this multiple times while running away from him and maneuvring him into position before you hit the switch.
Many people have been forced to restart the whole game in order to return to this point with enough ammo to survive. An evil encounter for the ill-prepared.
24. Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid
Without a doubt one of the most memorable boss fights ever devised, this confrontation in the PS One classic, Metal Gear Solid, goes down in history as one of the best ever, and the most impressive use of a rumble feature we've ever seen, as well as ingenious use of a memory card.
Psycho Mantis himself is also a major challenge, at least until you discover his secret, which is to plug the controller into the second port to fool his mind reading abilities. Once you do this, he's easy. The thing is, back then, many didn't even consider such a thing, why would you? And so, without this knowledge, Mantis was a beast, able to predict each and every move you made, avoiding almost all damage. He's nigh-on invulnerable until you happen to guess his weakness.
23. Ghost of Lady Comstock – BioShock Infinite
Like Psycho Mantis, Lady Comtock isn't too difficult when you figure out what you're doing. The problem here is the fact that this boss is so different from every other encounter in the game, and her weakness, which is to kill off all of her soldiers and attack her while she calls for reinforcements, isn't very apparent. Figuring out this weakness is pretty tricky when you've got a small army of undead soldiers trying to stick pointy things into you as well as peppering you with bullets.
Even when you do figure out her weakness, this ghost is difficult to bust, and unless you make full use of cover and have plenty of ammo (which is easy to run out of in BioShock Infinite), you'll still have a hard time, especially if you play on the higher difficulty levels.
22. M. Bison - Street Fighter II
Traditionally, fighting game bosses are almost always ridiculously tough. But back when Street Fighter II hit the scene, this wasn't something we were used to. We all remember the first time we met Mr Bison, before he promptly Psycho Crushed us to death.
The evil despot is a hard-hitting and agile combatant, with some erratic, hard to predict moves, and he can be very difficult to beat. Add to this the friend we all have who constantly spams the Psycho Crusher, flying from left to right over and over again, and you've got a boss character that can be a nightmare to fight. Over the years his challenge has waned, but when we first faced him, Bison was a tough one.
21. Kai Leng (final encounter) - Mass Effect 3
As with Metal Gear Solid and BioShock Infinite, often the toughest bosses are the ones who shake up the tempo and bring a totally different feel to a game. This is certainly the case with Kai Leng, Mass Effect 3's ninja assassin.
This boss fight is fast-paced, something of a rarity for the Mass Effect series, which often relies on cover-based shooting, and this ninja can hit hard too. But he's also a bloody coward and attacks with the aid of various robotic soldiers.
Kai Leng's powerful and relentless attacks make this fight difficult, as you have little time to heal or reload, and your AI companions are usually only so much fodder and simply act as a minor diversion. What you need here is a good aim and the ability to get the best possible tactical use out of your allies and powers. Even then, this can be a fight that takes many tries to beat, and that's just on normal difficulty.
20. Ultimate Evil - Splatterhouse II
Many older, 8- and 16-bit titles were notoriously difficult, not just in terms of bosses, but in overall general difficulty (you'll all surely have many opinions on tough bosses form this era). As games were shorter, and less complex, the challenge often needed to be higher in order to give people good value and a title longevity. However, sometimes this challenge bordered on ridiculous.
Splatterhouse II's final boss is a good example of this.The Ultimate Evil is a floating blob of heads and tentacles, and it attacks by firing a range of different heads at you as it flies from one side of the screen to the other. These heads can be hard to avoid, and what's more, the boss often hides offscreen, so you can't even retaliate, or see where attacks will come from. Once bested, it then turns into a fast moving flying skull that is hard to avoid, and harder to hit. You'll need some luck to beat this one.
19. Yellow Devil – Mega Man
Series fans will no doubt have their own entry for Capcom's long-running Mega Man series, but here we have the original game's Yellow Devil, a boss that challenges your jumping and avoidance abilities, as well as perfect timing skills.
His attacks are simple. He fires at you with a projectile, and then splits into blobs and flies towards the opposite side of the screen. Each blob needs to be avoided, and once he's formed, the cycle begins anew, giving you time for only one or two shots.
The difficulty here is all about the timing and perfect jumping required to avoid his body parts. In later versions, such as Mega Man 3, this isn't as difficult, as only the bottommost layer can touch you most of the time. Here, the bottom two layers can hit you, and as the blobs fly in such quick succession, often while jumping to avoid a lower blob, you'll be hit by another. It's a very tricky boss in a game series known for putting you up against tough opponents.
18. Sinistar – Sinistar
Sometimes difficulty isn't just about actual skill and tactics, it can be heightened by getting into your head, and that's just what the evil Sinistar does. As you blast away at foes in a level, you'll be happy enough going about your business, and then you'll hear it - “Beware, I live!”
These words, as well as a collection of other intimidating phrases blast out of the speakers at you, announcing the arrival of Sinistar, the game's perpetual end of level boss. At this point, you're already worried, not knowing where he'll come from, or when he'll strike, so when he does, panic sets in and the battle is on. He's a tough nut to crack too, chasing you relentlessly while you try to fight back, avoid attacks, and dodge asteroids. Very mean and very tricky.
A good deal of the original NES TMNTtitle is difficult, such as the infamous underwater section, but the battle against the Technodrome is particularly tough. This is for two reasons. The actual fight is hard as nails, with the Technodrome firing projectiles, spewing a barrier of lightning, and sending Foot Clan ninjas into the fray, but before you can even fight the boss, you have to find it, as it's hidden in a cave full of dangerous foes. It's very easy to lose turtles during this search, meaning that you'll often face the boss with only one or two lives. There's just not enough pizza.
16. Wyvern (Second encounter) - Vagrant Story
Some may say this fight isn't that tough, but others would agree this is a big difficulty spike. Vagrant Story is always challenging, but the second encounter with a Wyvern (not the injured, tutorial one) is one of those boss battles that really slaps you in the face. Up until this point, the bosses were tricky but usually beatable without too much trouble, and they didn't require much mastery of the game's crafting system.
This Wyvern, on the other hand, is a beast. Unless you've prepared ahead of time with the right weapon affinity, leveling, and skills, this fight is both tough, and long. Your attacks do little and its attacks can devastate you in seconds.
It's a classic grinding boss, and to best it you need to level up, build your dragon affinity and nail those chain combo timings and dodges. Only then will you be able to slay this beast.
15. Flemeth - Dragon Age: Origins
Often in games, especially RPGs, you'll encounter some bosses that are totally optional, and these are often some of the most powerful creatures you'll encounter. Dragon Age: Origins is no different, and Morrigan's mother, Flemeth, could be a boss encounter you'll wish you'd never started.
Although she's a frail-looking old woman, she's also a shape shifter and can turn into a great big, death-dealing dragon, one that can toast you to a crisp in no time. She's got a ton of health, hits like a truck, has fire breath, can fly, and her attacks will often cause knockbacks. Basically, she's a monster, and even in a game with as many tough bosses as Dragon Age, she stands out.
14. Shao Khan – Mortal Kombat II
Like M. Bison, Shao Khan was one of the earliest fighter bosses that truly upped the ante in terms of difficulty. However, unlike M. Bison, who's a well-balanced boss on the whole, Khan is as unpredictable as they come. He's strong, can block like a pro, and isn't afraid to taunt you mid-battle. The major problem here, though, is his cheap as chips charge attack, which he often spams mercilessly, negating any real fight, and turning battles into even cheaper, special move spam fests.
Often the best tactic to beat him is to hit him over and over with an easy, but powerful special, such as Raiden's torpedo attack, which requires little skill and more luck. His taunts provide an opening, but he'll more often than not retaliate quickly.
His difficulty has remained in most of his following appearances, with the 2011 reboot of Mortal Kombat boasting one of his most difficult, if not borderline broken, outings.
13. Spider Guardian – Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube version)
Spider Guardian is considered by many to be the hardest boss in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and we'd argue that it's the hardest in the series in many ways. We'd rather face several Metroid Primes and Ridleys in a row than face this.
The Spider Guardian fight takes place entirely in a Spider Ball maze, and the guardian is equipped with the Spider Ball ability, meaning it can run along the spider tracks, thus navigating the course easily. Samus hasn't got this power (she gets it from this boss) and so needs to carefully use bomb jumps to get around. At the same time, you need to avoid the Spider Guardian's aura hits, and place bombs in order to time the blasts to hit the enemy. It's a complex, finicky and downright tough process.
The confrontation was watered down for the Wii re-release, and was made far easier, so if you want the real experience, try this fight in the original GameCube version.
12. Dracula – Castlevania III
Just as the Technorome in TMNT is made all the more difficult by the preceding level, so too is Dracula in Castlevania III on the NES. As a boss, Dracula is certainly tricky, and takes on three forms, all of which have their own life bar and varied attacks. With practice, he's very beatable, but that's where the problem comes in.
In order to actually fight Dracula, and to work against his moves, you first have to get through one of the most difficult levels in the whole series. If you die during the boss fight, it's back to the start of the level. This makes for a long, arduous, and tough boss fight that's hard on the mind as well as the fingers.
11. C'Thun – World of Warcraft (pre-patch)
World of Warcraft has plenty of difficult bosses, but there's one that any veteran WoW player will always place at the top of any list, and that's C'Thun (before he was patched).
Prior to the patch, C'Thun was infamous for being nigh-on immortal. This boss stomped on even the most experienced and high level warriors, and entire guilds failed to take him down. The challenge was simply off the charts, which lead to the patch that nerfed this dangerous beast into a more manageable form.
When a boss can't even be beaten by the combined might of an entire guild of high level players, you know you're up against one hell of a powerful creature
10. The Ender Dragon – Minecraft
Minecraft isn't the kind of game usually associated with controller-throwing difficulty as it usually has a far more sedate pace to it. The Ender Dragon, though, is a boss that has to be respected.
This monstrosity can deal out damage in no time at all. The dragon is also very hard to hit unless it's right up in your face, and it's surrounded by magic crystals that constantly regenerate its health. Oh, and it's got an army of Endermen wandering around too, on a floating land that's easy to fall off. Nice.
A big part of the Dragon's inclusion here, though, is the sheer amount of painstaking preparation that has to go into this fight, which can all be lost in a split second, not just due to the dragon attack, but also a fatal and unintended glance at one of the army of Endermen populating the area (although a pumpkin can help here).
Before you even think of taking on the Ender Dragon you need to gather resources to craft good weapons, armour, enchantments, potions, arrow and more, and this takes a lot of time. One wrong move, and these supplies are lost, potentially meaning you've got to do a whole lot more preparation.
9. Ultimate Alma – Ninja Gaiden Sigma
The Ninja Gaiden reboot is known as being one of the most difficult games around, certainly in the hack and slash genre. Each and every fight in this game can be game over fuel, and the boss fights can be torturous, with Alma being a popular nomination for the worst.
The sheer amount of dexterity and perfect dodging you need to triumph in this boss fight is insane, and one slip up with an ill-timed dodge can mean the end of you.
Her range of attacks include energy beams, dives, homing missiles, throwing stone pillars at you, and summoning help in the form of speedy demons. She takes a lot of damage too, making this fight a long and very exhausting one where you have to keep up your guard and make few mistakes for the duration.
8. Senator Armstrong - Metal Gear Rising: Revengence
Alright, so this is technically a Metal Gear game, which we've already featured, but it's not in the Solid series, and it's a totally different genre too, so we're going to include this, as it certainly warrants a mention.
After a boss battle against an enormous walking battle tank in the last stage, you'd think your job would be done, let alone being extended by fighting a glasses-sporting politician. Even less expected is that fact that this politician is one of the hardest fights you'll ever engage in, especially on harder difficulties.
Senator Armstrong certainly does take a hard-line stance, and his mixture of hard hits and wrestling slams, sprinkled with some vicious AoE attacks and the ability to throw massive chunks of rock and debris at you create a murderously hard confrontation. He's a brute, and this is another fight where a single mistake can be your last.
This is made all the more difficult as the game's bosses up to this point were nowhere near as challenging, even the tricky fight against Sam. So, entering this fight you think you're ready for anything, but as it turns out, you're probably not, and you should get ready to have your backside handed to you.
7. Last Boss/Spiritual Larsa - Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
This confrontation defines the term bullet hell shooter, so insane is the sheer volume of projectiles spewed out by this three-stage boss. Although you may think that this should be number one, especially if you check out the myriad of YouTube videos of the fight, this battle, although ridiculously tough, is all about one thing, and one thing only – dodging. You don't really have to aim or do anything special, just hold down fire and concentrate on dodging the waves of bullets.
These waves are usually slow, if densely packed, and with some trial and error, the attack patterns can be memorised. Still, even with this knowledge and a steady hand, besting this boss will guarantee you a place in the gaming elite, and this is arguably the most difficult shooter challenge you can find.
6. Vortex Queen - Ecco The Dolphin
Ecco The Dolphin on the Sega Mega Drive was a tough adventure. The unique controls had to be mastered perfectly in order to solve some of the game's more difficult puzzles and survive the tougher levels, all the while keeping your eye on your air meter. Nerve-racking stuff.
All that went before was a cakewalk, though, compared to the end game boss. This terrifying, screen-sized alien queen's floating head wasn't only unnerving to look at, but she fired projectiles, summoned Vortex soldiers and took a whole lot of damage. The kicker? If she managed to suck you into her mouth, you'd have to start from the beginning of the previous level, 'Welcome to the Machine', which was also very difficult. Many screams of rage could be heard from Sega fans trying to beat this boss. A nightmare, both visually, and in terms of difficulty.
5. Sephiroth – Kingdom Hearts II
His appearance in Final Fantasy VII was very tough (which we'll come to later on), but Kingdom Hearts II also features Square's popular antagonist, and boy as he difficult.
Many KHII players have never managed to beat this incarnation of Sephiroth, as he's powerful, fast, can take a beating, and has a range of moves that can be almost impossible to defend against. Only with perfect timing, combo attacks, prompted dodging and a high enough level Sora can you hope to have a chance against him, and if you even think about healing at the wrong time, he'll punish you brutally. Well, he is Sephiroth, it's kind of his MO.
4. Mike Tyson – Mike Tyson's Punch Out!
A lot of games are all about reflexes and timing, but Mike Tyson's Punch Out! on the NES is possibly the best example of this. Despite being a fairly simple boxing game, the final fight against Tyson himself is notoriously difficult.
Beating Iron Mike requires absolute perfect timing, the reflexes of a rattlesnake and committing Mike's moves and combos to memory, so you know what tells to look for, and when the right time to attack and use star power specials. This may sound simple, and watching the game being played you may wonder what all the fuss is about as it's so deceptively simple. Pick up the pad, though, and try taking on Mike yourself (which you can with the pass code 007 373 5963) and you'll see exactly what its all about, as Mike plants you face down time and time again.
3. Ultimecia - Final Fantasy VIII
Seriously, we could fill several lists with the tough bosses of the Final Fantasy series, so it was very hard to come up with one. No doubt many would list Final Fantasy VII's bout with Sephiroth, or optional fights against Emerald and Ruby Weapons, and indeed, these ware very tough, but for us, number eight's final boss, Ultimecia takes the third spot here.
Ultimecia is a perfect example of Square's obsession with never-ending, multiple stage boss fights. She has not one, not two, but four forms, all of which can easily end your fight, and each takes an age to beat. This means you've got a boss fight that can last a ridiculous amount of time, and she's got a myriad of ways she can quickly eject your party members. The longer the fight, the more likely you are to mess up.
Did you ignore some characters whilst playing through the story, leaving them weaker than others? Well, you'll pay for it now, as Ultimecia can exploit any and all weakness, and you'll pay for every hole in your defence. Even a fully levelled team can be unceremoniously smashed, she's that difficult.
2. General Raam – Gears of War
Gears of War has some very challenging situations, and some tough boss fights spread throughout the series, but the first game's final boss, the evil General Raam, easily takes our second spot. Here's here mainly for his insane difficulty level encounter, but he a challenging boss on any difficulty, depending on your skill. Well, maybe not on easy... And we're not including any glitching tactics here, that's just not cricket.
Raam carries a powerful mini gun, is covered in a shield of deadly Kryll, which he can send to attack you, and he's also flanked by Reavers. The poor ally AI of Dom doesn't help much, leaving this fight to you, and what a fight it is.
As Raam can kill you with a single shot, or a few quick blasts in less than a second, this fight is all about cover, well-timed shots and carefully timed dashes for new cover when he comes too close. It's truly brutal in difficulty on insane, and completing this solo requires immense skill. If in doubt, get a friend to help, it makes things much easier.
1. Ornstein and Smough – Dark Souls
We said we could fill several lists with Final Fantasy bosses, and the same applies to FromSoftware's Souls series. This game series is all about high fantasy, atmospheric adventuring and tough challenge, especially in terms of bosses.
It was very hard to pick a single entry, and it was a very close call. We almost went with the epic and tremendously tough battle against Knight Artorias in Dark Souls' DLC, but in the end we had to pick the infamous battle with Ornstein and Smough. At least Artorias takes you on in a one-on-one fight.
Earlier bosses in the game like the Bell Gargoyles may team up to fight you, but at least the beginning of the fight is one-on-one, giving you chance to even the odds a little. Not so with Ornstein and Smough, the notoriously brutal duo of Dark Souls. This boss fight rates as one of the most difficult ever crafted, in Dark Souls or any other game for that matter, and it can reduce people to gibbering, rage-spewing wrecks.
The tandem assault of the quick and agile Ornstien, and the slow but powerful Smough makes for a truly daunting proposition, one that has brought many a Dark Souls player to their knees over, and over, and over again. What's more, although you can attack both, wearing down their health, on one of the duo's deaths the remaining member of the tag team gets full health back, and turns into a super-powered form, even more of a threat than before. So, when you think you've got an edge, it's pulled from under you, as the remaining enemy becomes even stronger, able to crush you in one or two hits. This is bad enough on a NG playthrough, but on NG+ and above, this difficulty escalates through the roof. You genuinely feel a sense of fear before you have to face these guys, and if you want both armour sets and weapons, you'll have to do so more than once, as you only get the soul of the last one to fall. Prepare to die, indeed.
That wraps up our top 25, but we're well aware that this is a very subjective topic. One person's difficult boss is another's pushover, so please, let us know what your own nightmare boss encounters are. There are far too many to list out there, so don't hold back and regale us with your proudest victories in the comments.
