Spring,
a busy time for the video game industry, doesn’t officially begin until March
20, but North Texas gamers already have much to be excited about.
Two events will vie for gamers’ hard-earned dollars: the
Texas Pinball Festival, occurring in Frisco March 18-20, and All-Con, taking
place in Dallas March 17-20. The latter has added a number of video
game-related activities for this year, including a 
tournament and an assortment of panels, including
one on how to forge a career in gaming.
After
many delays, the National Videogame Museum in Frisco has finally nailed down a
grand opening date: April 2.
And,
of course, there are many new video games coming out. These
include such popular titles as 
for the 
, Tom Clancy’s The Division for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and 
for most every
current console.
Here
are nine more new and forthcoming titles that will keep gamers occupied at
least until summer.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HD
Wii
U
Publisher:
Nintendo
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Available
Now
$59.99
A new
In
addition to a visually spruced up overhaul of the original game, Twilight Princess HD adds Amiibo
functionality and even includes a Wolf Link Amiibo. Not only does the Amiibo
add features to 
HD,
it will add bonuses to the next Legend of
Zelda game.
EA Sports UFC 2
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Electronic Arts
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: March 15
$59.99
Step
back into the Octagon with EA Sports UFC
2, a virtual version of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the popular and violent
mixed martial arts competition. From the comfort of your couch, you can punch,
kick, jab, elbow and otherwise pummel your pal or the computer-controlled
player into submission.
The
game has a variety of upgrades over EA Sports UFC 2
, including more realistic graphics, a Knockout Mode (with
onscreen hints, quick pacing and an adjustable health meter for each fighter) and
a revamped Career Mode, which adds playable females, including fan favorite Ronda
Rousey, who’s pictured on the cover with Conor McGregor.
, including more realistic graphics, a Knockout Mode (with
onscreen hints, quick pacing and an adjustable health meter for each fighter) and
a revamped Career Mode, which adds playable females, including fan favorite Ronda
Rousey, who’s pictured on the cover with Conor McGregor.
Quantum Break
Xbox
One
Publisher:
Microsoft
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: April 5
$59.99
Promising
a “holistic entertainment experience” that “blurs the lines between television
and gaming,” Quantum Break
casts players
as Jack Joyce, who, thanks to a faulty time travel experiment, has gained time
manipulation powers enabling him to stop time, speed up time, unleash time
blast projectiles and use a time shield to deflect bullets. More traditionally,
Jack can solve environmental puzzles and do some 3D platforming, the latter
complicated by objects that get caught in a time loop and become hazards. The
objective is to stop an evil corporation from destroying time itself.
casts players
as Jack Joyce, who, thanks to a faulty time travel experiment, has gained time
manipulation powers enabling him to stop time, speed up time, unleash time
blast projectiles and use a time shield to deflect bullets. More traditionally,
Jack can solve environmental puzzles and do some 3D platforming, the latter
complicated by objects that get caught in a time loop and become hazards. The
objective is to stop an evil corporation from destroying time itself.
After
you work your way through each level, an episode of a live action-style TV show
will play (featuring Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillen and Courtney Hope), augmenting
the game’s storyline.
Dark Souls III
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Bandai Namco Entertainment
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: April 12
$59.99
Winner
of “Best Role Playing Game” at the massive Gamescom 2015 video game convention
in Germany, Dark Souls III
is similar
to its progenitors, offering ample action to go with the RPG goodness. Equipped
with armor, shields, bows, arrows, firebombs, swords, magic and other weaponry,
you’ll battle an assortment of enemies, including monsters, undead soldiers and
tricky bosses that change tactics mid-fight.
is similar
to its progenitors, offering ample action to go with the RPG goodness. Equipped
with armor, shields, bows, arrows, firebombs, swords, magic and other weaponry,
you’ll battle an assortment of enemies, including monsters, undead soldiers and
tricky bosses that change tactics mid-fight.
Bonfires
return as checkpoints, but now there are also small gravestones that light up,
acting as torches and supplementing the storyline. Player movement is quicker
and attacks are stronger than in previous games in the series, and the levels
are larger and more interconnected, encouraging gamers to explore the darkly
beautiful environments.
Ratchet & Clank
PlayStation
4
Publisher:
Sony
ESRB
Rating: Everyone 10+
Release
Date: April 12
$39.99
Released
for the PlayStation 2 in 2002, the original 
kicked off a popular series that includes such titles as Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of
Destruction (2007) and Ratchet &
Clank: All 4 One (2011) for the PlayStation 3. The PS4 Ratchet & Clank, which has a movie tie-in releasing April 29, is
a reimagining of that debut game, enhanced with a fresh control system, better
graphics and sounds, new boss battles, new flight sequences, new planets to
explore and several new weapons, including the Pixelizer, which turns enemies
into 8-bit pixels.
To
save Solana Galaxy from the evil Chairman Drek, Ratchet the robot, aided by
Clank, must navigate sci-fi worlds, collect bolts, and fire bullets, grenades,
flames and other weapons at an assortment of enemies.
Star Fox Zero
Wii
U
Publisher:
Nintendo
ESRB
Rating: Everyone 10+
Release
Date: April 22
$59.99
The
popular “Star Fox” space shooter series, which began on the Super Nintendo in
1993, gets a new adventure with StarFox Zero
. The highly anticipated game, which was supposed to release last year,
features the return of Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy, who are anthropomorphic
animal pilots of an assortment of airborne and ground-based vehicles, including
the Arwing (which features a new Walker transformation), the Landmaster Tank and
a new Gyrowing plane.
. The highly anticipated game, which was supposed to release last year,
features the return of Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy, who are anthropomorphic
animal pilots of an assortment of airborne and ground-based vehicles, including
the Arwing (which features a new Walker transformation), the Landmaster Tank and
a new Gyrowing plane.
As
legendary star pilot Fox McCloud, you’ll fly through the air, lock onto enemies
and blast them out of the sky (with the help of Team Star Fox, who you should
protect), using both the GamePad (cockpit view) and the TV screen (cinematic
view of the full battlefield) to monitor the action.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
PlayStation
4
Publisher:
Sony
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: May 10
$59.99
Taking
place several years after Uncharted 3:
Drake's Deception, Uncharted 4
brings fortune hunter Nathan “Nate” Drake out of retirement for one final
adventure. Nate’s older brother Sam, who was thought to be dead, comes asking
for help, and the two embark on a global quest in search of conspiracies
surrounding a lost pirate colony and treasure.
According
to 
, demos of Uncharted 4 offer much promise,
including “stellar visuals, harrowing traversal and shooting gameplay, pithy
dialogue and a robust new multiplayer mode.”
Doom
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Bethesda Software
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: May 13
$59.99
The
series that popularized the first-person shooter genre returns with Doom
, which was originally going to be
titled “Doom 4.” The game employs a new “push forward” combat system that
emphasizes players completing the fiendishly devised levels quickly, dishing
out tons of mayhem along the way. Instead of automatic health regeneration, you
must kill enemies in order to heal, meaning you’ll want to confront big bad
monsters even when you’re heavily damaged. The ability for players to sprint
and double-jump makes the game speedy as well.
, which was originally going to be
titled “Doom 4.” The game employs a new “push forward” combat system that
emphasizes players completing the fiendishly devised levels quickly, dishing
out tons of mayhem along the way. Instead of automatic health regeneration, you
must kill enemies in order to heal, meaning you’ll want to confront big bad
monsters even when you’re heavily damaged. The ability for players to sprint
and double-jump makes the game speedy as well.
Richardson-based
developer iD Software promises new enemies and a variety of new weapons in the
game, in addition to such fan-favorites as the chainsaw, super-shotgun and plasma
rifle. Multi-player action will be represented by such modes as clan arena,
freeze tag and classic four-player death-match.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Electronic Arts
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: May 24
$59.99
The
prequel to 2008’s Mirror’s Edge, Mirror's Edge Catalyst
focuses on the
origin of Faith Connors, who runs, jumps, climbs, zip-lines and uses urban
exploration and parkour movements to traverse the beautiful, but oppressive
city of Glass, which is lorded over by totalitarian corporations. The game
dispenses with the levels and linear action of the original in favor of an open-world,
free-roaming environment, which gives players more freedom of movement and multiple
paths to complete objectives.
An
agile, spritely protagonist, Faith engages in melee-style battles to evade or
defeat enemies. The action is viewed from a first-person perspective, but
switches to third-person during finishing moves. Faith must also complete time
trials, run races and solve environmental puzzles.
All-Con
The
Westin Dallas Park Central
12720
Merit Dr.
Dallas,
75251
March
17-20
Free
on Thursday (registration required); $55 weekend pass; $35 Friday ($20 children
ages 5-12); $35 Saturday ($20 child); $20 Sunday ($10 child)
(817)
819-1353
Texas
Pinball Festival
Embassy
Suites
7600
John Q Hammons Dr.
Frisco,
75034
March
18-20
$60
weekend pass ($35 children ages 5-12); $25 Friday ($15 child); $35 Saturday
($25 child); $20 Sunday ($10 child)
214-471-5777
texaspinball.com
National Videogame Museum
Frisco
Discovery Center
8004
N. Dallas Pkwy.
Frisco,
75034.
Grand
Opening: April 2
$12;
arcade games cost 25 cents per play.
(972)
668-8400
www.nvmusa.org
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