With the huge success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, there was no doubt that there would be another iteration in the series. Many wondered where you go from Arkham City; Arkham County? Arkham Tri-state area? We got an tease from the Joker himself when during the 2011 Spike VIdeo Game awards pulled out a file labeled Arkham World and called it a spoiler. Imagine our surprise when it was announced the the next game would be a prequel. Batman: Arkham Origins, developed by  Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of the previous developer Rocksteady Studios, is set to take place several years before the first game Arkham Asylum with a younger, less experienced Batman taking on eight deadly assassin’s hired by Black Mask. It’s Christmas Eve and with the bounty on Batman’s head, everyone will be gunning for him. The trailer features Batman, Deathstroke, Black Mask, and Deadshot, not to mention three very unlucky criminals.

Batman: Arkham Origins is set to put a higher emphasis on detective work than previous games. Also offering a plethora of side missions including a “Crime in Progress” where Batman can stop street crimes or aid the police to improve his reputation and a “Most WAnted” mode where you go after other villains in Batman’s rogue gallery. Batman: Arkham Origins is set to release October 25, 2013 and if you preorder you get to play as the assassin Deathstroke. Check back with us for more updates on your favorite caped crusader.

Bethesda recently teased that they would be announcing a new game with a cryptic repeating video of bob wire and a record player. Much of the internet believed it to be a teaser for the next Fallout game. Today an official announcement has been made with a new IP in The Evil Within. This will be the first game by orginal creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami’s new studio Tango Gameworks.  Mikami released a statement, “We’re incredibly proud to announce The Evil Within. My team and I are committed to creating an exciting new franchise, providing fans the perfect blend of horror and action.” This new survival horror will be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and next gen consoles in 2014. In the mean time, check out this scary live-action teaser trailer.

*Volunteer Positions* While evaluating the state of the Gaming Journalism scene, I noticed that we at Real Otaku Gamer has a unique approach when covering geek/otaku culture. As the site gets restructured and we go into our 3rd year, we are looking to create opportunities that will help the site become more robust and varied with coverage. Real Otaku Gamer has a global vision, we accept writers from all over the world.

These new job positions are going to help Real Otaku Gamer become more organized and develop a bigger community so we can grow as a brand. These positions are volunteer only as we are a small site. As we grow so will the sponsors and hopefully revenue.

IF HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSITIONS, Email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com

These New Positions are as follows:

1. Community Manager: You will be taking care of the daily running of the site. You will work along side the Editor in Chief and other Admins on the site with promoting the site and helping build a brand. You must have good communication skills.

2.Marketing and PR: You will be responsible for all Public Relations with companies and the community. You must have good communication skills and be able to relate to people of a number of levels. You will also run contests and giveaways.

3.Managing Editor: You will work closely with all staff to make sure the posts we produce, are up to our standards.

4.Social Media Manager: You will be in charge of growing our social networking presence. You will be working close to the senior staff.

5. Assistant to Editor in Chief: You will assist the E.I.C. in the daily running of the site.

6.Advertising and Promotion: contact us for more details.

7.Art Director: contact us for more details.

8.Podcast Producer/Editor: contact us for more details.

9.Video Producer/Editor :contact us for more details.

Now, the next few positions are for the Real Otaku Gamer Specialists. These positions are dedicated for people who want to cover a specific genre/category. This is where your inner Otaku can really shine.

1. PC

2. Mobile/Tablet

3. Tech

4. Anime

5. Manga

6. Comics

7. Nintendo

8. Sony

9. Microsoft

10. Movies/Television

11. Asian Cinema

12.Indie Games

13.Toys/models and Merchandise

14.Convention Coverage

15.Cosplay and Cosplay Culture

To apply for these positions, you must first submit a writing sample and once the sample is approved, submit an small essay telling us why we should pick you for the job you are interested in. An essay is not necessary for all positions. Deadline to have the samples submitted is May 20th, 2013. We must have all essays in my May 17th. Send the Essays and Samples to feedback@realotakugamer.com.

If you have any questions about any of the positions and their responsibilities, just email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com or go to the Twitter and Facebook pages. Thanks you for your time.

Andre Tipton

Founder/Editor in Chief

Western fans of Namco’s long-running Tales RPG series have reason to celebrate. Tales of Xillia now has a firm release date. It will arrive in North America on August 6, 2013, and in Europe on August 9, 2013.

Tales of Xillia has been a huge success in Japan with over 740,000 copies sold since its release there on September 8, 2011. The game is a collaborative effort of both of the main Tales development teams, Team Destiny, with artwork by Mutsumi Inomata, and Team Symphonia, with artwork by Kosuke Fujishima. It allows the players to pick one of two main heroes from each development team, Milla Maxwell or Jude Mathis, respectively, at the start of the game. The game’s soundtrack  is composed by longtime Tales composer Motoi Sakuraba. The game will feature the series’ trademark action battle system.

Tales of Xillia will feature a premium collectors’ edition for the dedicated fans.

In addition, Namco is also preparing an elaborate limited premium edition of the game for both North America and Europe. The collectors’ edition includes the game, a 100-page art-book  a soundtrack CD, and a figure of the Team Destiny heroine, Milla Maxwell. The collectors’ edition will retail for USD $100. It will be available on the online store for European customers and at retail for the US and Canada.

Tales of Xillia will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

Warner Bros. Interactive have finally announced, what we all wanted to hear, Batman will be returning to a prequel to both Arkham Asylum & City, with Batman: Arkham Origins. The game will focus on a younger, a less sharp Batman and his initial encounters against various supervillains within the Batman & DC lore. Game Informer also says, “Developer WB Montreal is using Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to create the game.” Although Rocksteady isn’t helming the developing, Warner Bros. has enlisted Eric Holmes, as creative director on the game, and who has also worked on Prototype and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Additionally, Warner Bros. has announced a handheld Arkham game, a spin off, titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Apparently, the game is styled after Metroid games, and takes place after Origins, on the consoles story. Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, who is behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Both games will hit shelves October 25th, Arkham Origins on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC, and Blackgate on Vita and 3DS.

At PAX East this year I had the opportunity to check out Secret Ponchos, a spaghetti Western themed, top-down shooter from Switchblade Monkeys. The lush looking art, awesome music and simple premise drew me in, but the addicting gameplay was what ultimately won my heart.

Plot

“In Lonetree – a lawless, cutthroat town full of outlaws and bounty hunters – everyone is gunning for your head. Create your outlaw and engage in multiplayer duels to determine who lives, who dies and who becomes a legend.”

Characters

Click on the links to learn more about each character, their weapons and their stats.

• The Killer <- Who I played
• Gordo
• Kid Red <- Who I mistook for a girl and to this moment still refer to as a she. Sorrynotsorry.
• The Deserter
• Phantom Poncho
• Unnamed lady!

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is what really makes this game unique. You truly feel like you’re playing a Western – tension, itchy trigger finger and all. The music creates the perfect vibe, the colors make you feel all deserty… it’s hard to describe, but they truly nailed that feeling of when you were a little kid playing cowboys and Indians – ducking behind couches and peering around for enemies, reloading your imaginary six shooter – it’s all there.

Gameplay

Players can choose from six different characters with their own special moves and weapons. Each character has a primary and secondary weapon, and each weapon has a primary and special attack. You use the left stick to move around and the right stick to aim, with a cool shadowy line showing you where the bullet will strike. It takes a little getting used to at first, because you also have to make sure your weapon is drawn and aimed before you can attack, meaning you have to be a quick thinker to avoid death until you gain muscle memory.

The unique weapons and attacks of the characters really add a level of complexity to the simple gameplay, causing you to sacrifice certain advantages for others. For example, I played The Killer, and while my gun was pretty strong, I had to reload constantly. I tried to compensate by throwing my knife, only to find that I had to wait for the knife to “come back” before I could throw it again. Apparently, I should have been using it to stab instead of using my special attack. I tried to re-compensate by dodging all over the place, only to find that I was depleting my stamina bar. It became readily apparent that this seemingly simple game had much more nuance than I originally thought. There is also a lovely line-of-sight mechanic that let my opponents disappear completely if they hid somewhere. I think this contributed to that feeling of being little and playing cowboys and Indians… I really didn’t know where my enemies would turn up and the tension was excellent!

The multiplayer modes are fast-paced and just the right amount of challenging. There are four modes: one v. one, two v. two, four v. four and eight player free-for-all. Creative Director Yousuf Mapara said the team hopes to add more game modes if time permits.

I spoke with Eduardo Echeverria, the interface developer, who told me that the game will allow you to customize your character as you gain a reputation, essentially allowing you to create your own outlaw. He also revealed that they are developing a female character, when I mentioned the lack of ladies. Check her out looking slightly androgynous as a matador:

When I asked about the motivation behind the game, Echeverria looked me in the eye and said: SoulCaliber. You see, the developers used to play a lot of SoulCaliber, and they really loved how the game was easy to get into but had a depth of strategy for more experienced players. They wanted to create a game like that. What they ended up with has been compared to League of Legends, Street Fighter 2 and Team Fortress. In other words, this game is lined up to be ridiculous fun.

Secret Ponchos is slated for PS3 and 360 release only at this time.

Hideo Kojima and his team have finally revealed the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. It was previously teased at last year Spike Video Game Awards as just the Phantom Pain developed by Moby Dick Studios but the truth is now revealed. Please watch, share and enjoy and comment down below on your thoughts of the game.

At San Diego Comic Con, Deadpool himself announced his new video game. Little was scene but it looked pretty crazy. A new trailer is out and this one looks even more bizarre… in the best way possible. This is exactly who Deadpool is and if this game can play well, it’ll be awesome. Check out the new trailer courtesy of GameTrailers.

Nolan North makes a great Deadpool, he captures his crazy perfectly. Deadpool: The Video Game is set to be released this summer. I cannot wait for it and it’s Man-Bazookas.

The Sony Conference event, started off light, and on time, with an cavalcade of the history of PlayStation brand through the years; from the PlayStation to the current generation, PlayStation 3. Everything was intermingled with the Dual Shock controller, being focused at some point and other PlayStation item as well. But within the first few seconds after the MC or main presenter, Andrew House began, he announced that Sony is indeed bringing the PlayStation 4, with the release window of Fall of this year. As he continued to speak, he talked about how the developer as well as the consumer is the focal point of the PS4. He additionally wanted it to be known, that the PS4 would be an central hub for all entertainment purposes for next generation.

The specs of the PS4 have definitely come back down to earth, from the cell processors and its raw power to a more easily programmable, but still power X86 CPU and an Advanced GPU, which easily allows 1st & 3rd party developers to get the most out of it. Sony is additionally giving, what all developers wanted, 8GB of unified memory and a supercharged architecture, again, which is catering to the developers, since Sony learned from previous PS3 development, and the grips most developers, that weren’t 1st party had to deal with. And from the out of the gate, a larger internal storage, which will come in handy with what will be explained next.

Sony has completed an massive infrastructure of involving mobile devices and primarily the Vita as the on the go version of the PS4, with turning your PS4 into a server of sorts. With the mention of the Vita, the games from your PS4 with the of Gaikai Cloud computing, which was acquired by Sony last year, is allowing for your catalogue to be on the go with you, mainly with the Vita but with other devices as well. With the Vita on the go, being more integral than before, it was shown by transferring, a new game for the PS4, called Knack, to the Vita as it was played, without missing a beat or any downgrade of graphics to the Vita’s clearly smaller screen. Also, Knack, slightly reminds me of the 360 launch game called Kameo, but that may just be me.

Next, is the new PS4 controller, which is simply called Dual Shock 4, its almost the same design as before, but with a touchpad where the Sony logo and Start & Select buttons were on the Dual 3. This gives the controller, a look of being a bit heavier, but it’s one of those things, people were saying the Dual 3 was too small, and cumbersome. With the touchpad comes, the integrated share button, right on the controller. It looks to be out of the way from accidental sharing, but convenient. Also, the light on the front of the controller, is continuously sending information to an almost Kinect like device, which is a stereo camera, which will track the controller as your playing.

The Share button takes me into the complete social integration as well other steps Sony is taking to further advance the PS4, with 5 words, each explaining the functionality of the PS4. First was Simple. Allowing for developers, be it, big companies or Indies to develop more easily for the PS4, and for the consumer to simply share and gain games for their PS4, more easily than ever before. Second, was Immediate. This was explained in the way of, a second chip, specifically, for background downloads, updates while playing a game either online or offline. Also, allowing for almost immediate, see what I did there, pick up and play from a suspended state of the game, even when its turned off. Third was Social. This is the heavy integration of the Share button.

The PS4 will be partnered with Facebook and Ustream, to allow for a better PSN profile, almost Facebook like, but Sony tailored. Also, with the Ustream and Gaikai, you can stream gameplay or upload screenshots or bits of gameplay directly to Facebook and other social media, and allow for immediate access by your friends on the media site as well as, your PSN friends, all the while retaining your anonymity, if you want. With the ability to stream, you or your friends can sit in on one another, if the person allows it, to watch them play, or even “pass the controls onto them” for help if need be. Also you can leave comments while they’re playing, be it helpful or even trash talk. Fourth was Integrate, allowing for the consumer to continuously, regardless of location or device do almost anything with the PS4. Finally was Personalization. This feature, is like smart shopping where, over time collected data from your purchases, from the PlayStation Store, or actual disk, and give you games and content, already fully downloaded to your PS4, and you’ll have to do is hit the buy button.

Moving back to Gaikai, Dave Perry, mentioned that, over time, the PS4 will have the catalogues of the PS1, 2, and 3, able to play digitally on the PS4, with the use of its technology. Also, with the service, they are adding, the Free to Try ability, giving the consumer, the ability to play actual full games, not a shortened version or a downgraded version, and buy at any point and time during that trial, and all without hassle.

After the beginning, they began to show games, videos, and live demos, from both 1st party and 3rd party. First up was Guerilla Games, with live gameplay of Killzone: Shadow Fall. The game is brighter than previous versions, and looks amazing. Next was Evolution Games, game Drive Club, a team based driving game about challenging the World as a team or Club, with a heavy integration in mobile devices for the challenges. Next, was Sucker Punch, bringing us back to the world of Infamous, the game calling Infamous: Second Son, and I was giddy with joy over this announcement, and I can’t wait. After which, Braid developers, Jonathan Blow, with the next game for the PS4 at launch, with The Witness, this has 25hrs of unique puzzles, and the music amazing with a Celtic feel.

Quantic Dream, creators of amazing Heavy Rain, showcased its pushing of the PS4 with a live demo of rendering facial and eye design and emotions with amazing lighting and textures, and small nuances. Media Molecule, the creators of Little Big Planet, shows full use of the Move with an sculpting and allowing your dreams to be created. This gave way to a recorded live performance of a show featuring “puppeteers” of a musical performance. With that, House mentioned that it had full support from, almost, if not, every major 3rd party developer for the PS4.

Capcom, with Yoshinori Ono, showing a gaming engine code named Panta Rhel, built specifically for the PS4 and a game being developed in conjunction with Panta, called, Deep Down (Working Title), showing beautiful lighting, character models, and amazing action, that seemed to be what real time action will be. Square Enix, showed the tech demo running the Luminous Engine by Hashimoto Yoshihisa, and the other Hashimoto, Shinji saying a new Final Fantasy title is in opening stages of development and more information released at E3. Ubisoft Montreal, showing an live demo of Watch Dogs running on the PS4. And the game looks amazing, and can’t wait till I get my hands on it. Blizzard, with Chris Metzen, announced that Diablo 3 will be coming to both the PS3 & PS4. And finally, the last announcement was from Activision’s Eric Hershberg, bringing Bungie’s new IP Destiny, to the PS4 as well as, the PS3, with exclusive content to the Sony family. All gameplay trailers, demos and videos will be on our site as well.

Sony came out hard hitting in this press conference. Showcasing that they have learned from their previous mistakes in the current generation, and looking forward to showing why Sony’s PlayStation was always a bright star, and not a waning one, as they were saying Sony was. Sony, came out saying, contest us now Microsoft, we will see you on the field of battle come this console launch. And Sony certainly means business, this generation.

After much speculation and intrigue, Bungie has today revealed their latest game, Destiny.The game has no release date yet but will launch for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as “future generation technology”. Bungie has revealed a large amount of information in regards to how this new game will play, and what we can expect to see from this ambitious new project. Destiny is a “shared world shooter”, a social and co-operative game drawing from aspects of an MMO (but is not one itself, as stressed by the developers), requiring no subscription, only a constant online connection. It will seamlessly search for players in the vicinity exploring, completing the same mission and incorporate them into the world, allowing chance meetings, partnerships and help in missions, battles and goals. The game will also support lobbies with friends and direct invites, but focuses more on a living and thriving online universe filled with happenstance and action. You can play the entire game solo however also. Non-combat based social hubs also exist, where players can relax and engage in competitive activities against one another.

One of the many vehicles that will be a feature of Destiny

As stated, Bungie developers have stressed that this game is not an MMO. Engineering lead Chris Butcher has said, “These are living, open worlds with evolving stories, changing time of day…and every one is full of players. Destiny is an always online experience, but it’s not an MMO.” The idea of using MMO elements in this game is clever, it will allow for a social experience without as much of an emphasis on guilds and organised raids, all the action will unfold differently depending on when you’re online and who you meet. The matchmaking is reminiscent of the 2012 game “Journey” where every time you come across another player you are intrigued and curious, and the newly forged ‘partnership’ can turn the tide of the game, lasting for many missions or simply vanishing into the world as quietly as they had appeared.

Now onto the storyline. The human race has been reduced to a single city after the ‘golden age’ in which humans took to the stars rapidly, with vast technological expertise. They were hit by a so far unidentified enemy, reducing them to almost nothing, saved only by the ‘Traveller”, a large sphere hovering just above the earth. The last of humanity live below the Traveller, in the last city. As they begin to rebuild and branch out they find that their old planets are now occupied by strange new creatures and forces, and now must defend the last hope of humanity, the city, from extinction. The player is a ‘guardian’, a powerful human able to wield some of the Traveller’s power. Rather than like in Bungie’s previous title Halo, the humans aren’t a dominant force in the universe. The universe is designed to be scary and imposing for the last of the humans, with imposing aliens fortresses and environments like the citadel. Bungie’s new graphics engine will also help to shape the atmosphere of the game, with increased lighting and graphical capabilities to change how worlds are perceived by the player.

The Citadel (concept art)

The player, as a guardian, can play as one of several different classes. The three confirmed so far are the Hunter, the Warlock and the Titan. Players will create and customize their own character, gaining new armor and weapons throughout the game. They will have their own personalized character in this huge galaxy. The tower, the players home, will serve as a hub for the character, where you can gear up your guardian and organize adventures and lobbies of friends. You will also be able to buy and customize vehicles and star-ships, and space combat has been hinted at but not confirmed. The developers have said they want the characters and universe, however dark and imposing to create a sense of hope for the players. ”At its core, Destiny is a hopeful world. It’s a place worth spending time in. It’s a place worth fighting for.” says the story lead, Joe Staten. The world and game design here is aimed at keeping players invested week after week, month after month with new goals, rewards and content to experience.

Three of the classes from Destiny, the Hunter, the Warlock and the Titan (left to right)

The mission and game structure featured in Destiny will be open and in contrast to the multiplayer co-operative play for the main storyline the game will also feature competitive multiplayer modes, with credits and rewards being universal across the story and competitive parts. Even with a strong and expansive storyline the game will feature a variety of side missions and activities, from exploration to bounty hunting, all awarding the player with rewards and credits. All these missions and sections are playable with friends via direct invite and you locale will be populated with other online players that may tag along on your quest with you.

Destiny represents an ambitious and brave new step into the future of gaming, and will incorporate Destiny not only on home consoles but on iOS and Android devices, laptops and handhelds such as the vita to keep the player connected into the universe of Destiny. It’s large scale universe, bold new steps to change the first person shooter genre, and the seamless incorporation of single player and multiplayer are incredibly exciting and hopefully we see some more of this game in action in the near future. Bungie’s reveal seems to have excited many fans of Halo and Sci-fi already, and only time will tell whether they are capable of realising the dream that is Destiny.

Bungie’s full ViDoc is below: