Destiny's House of Wolves expansion gets a release date, but it won't provide a new raid

Destiny players rejoice! Bungie just announced that the second expansion called House of Wolves will hit on May 19. Now the bad news - this expansion won't include a new raid.

Together with the release of the new trailer for the expansion and release date, Bungie released a post in bungie.net, announcing that there won't be a new raid in House of Wolves.

House of Wolves will not have a Raid activity. We didn't make this decision lightly. Our team has been humbled by the reception of Raids in Destiny and we are creating a new Raid for a release later this year. House of Wolves will have a new cooperative end game activity focused on variety, replayability, and skill – a new battle Arena called The Prison of Elders.

This might come as a disappointment for some players since raids in the game are considered a big selling point for the game. This new end game activity sounds more like a "horde mode" of sorts but time will tell when they give more information about The Prison of Elders.

Another problem we are seeing is that some players opted for the season pass to ensure 2 raids in the future. With this announcement, the pack only adds 1 raid. No word if the new raid planned later this year is included in the season pass.

Do you think it's a good decision not providing a new raid for veteran players? Sound off on the comments below.

Sony's Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition PS4 is Apparently "Limited"

Redundant title, we know. Since the release of the PlayStation 4, we were given a fair amount of limited edition PlayStation 4's with customized faceplate and color to make your purchase extra special. Well, it looks like the upcoming Batman game in the Arkham series will be getting the same treatment from Sony, and it looks stunning. 

I'm not into customized consoles, but I consider this as one of the best looking limited editions revealed to this day for the console. If I had to pick a color for a PlayStation console, gray is a sure winner, and to top it all off, this one has the silhouette of the bats on the faceplate. Don't agree? First have a closer look at it below.

Still don't agree? I guess it's just me. But if this is the kind of PlayStation 4 you would like to own, take note on the "limited edition" part of the title. It was announced recently that this version of the PlayStation 4 will indeed hit the Philippines but with limited quantity. No exact details on how many units are coming to our shores, so be sure to call your local gaming store to confirm if they will be getting the Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition PS4 and get those reservations/pre-orders going.

Arkham Knight will be the fourth game in the Batman Arkham series and will be out on June 23 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Asiasoft officially launches gaming portal 'PlayPark' in the Philippines

On March 4, 2015, Asiasoft held a launch event to promote their new gaming portal called 'PlayPark' for gamers in the Philippines. We were present at the event to get an idea of what PlayPark is all about, and witness the reveal of three games joining PlayPark's roster.

Attendees of the event were given the chance to relive part of their childhood by playing old-school playground games such as tumbang preso and a lot more. Why are those games in the event you ask? It's  to give us a clear picture on what PlayPark is all about. “The Playpark Launch event is a great opportunity for everyone to experience the fun philosophy that Playpark represents,”. We’ve got the most anticipated online games under our belt, and we’re bringing in even more games down the road, so we’re excited to see what the future holds for online gaming in the Philippines now that Playpark is here and here to stay. “   says Jake San Diego, General Manager of Playpark.

Among the titles revealed to join PlayPark is the MMORPG Cabal 2, online rhythm game World in Audition, and online FPS Special Forces 2.  Asiasoft has been quite aggressive since the acquisition of Level Up! Games last year with titles such as DC Universe Online, Blizzard's upcoming MOBA Heroes of the Storm (currently in closed beta), and Phantasy Star Online 2 hitting the Philippines. Online games has always been widely popular here and the added variety of games is greatly welcomed, and will greatly contribute in the growth of the online community in the near future.

You can check Asiasoft's Playpark and all their games here.

Video Game Convention and E-Sports Competition happening on November 15-16

A big gaming convention is happening in the Philippines. For two days, the E-Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) will open its doors on November 15- 16 to feature a series of video game competitions, and showcase video games developed by local game developers. This isn't the typical convention you'd expect in the Philippines, so let's give you all the details shall we? 

The organizers working on this event is the same group bringing us this year's Pinoy Gaming Festival (PGF), another big gaming event happening this week on October 25- 26, 2014. For those looking to witness the best players in the Philippines in a specific game, ESGS has a total of nine tournaments happening on the two-day event's stage floor.

The full list featured at the event stage as of October 25,2014 are as follows:

1. eSports League (ESL) Hearthstone Philippine Finals 2. ESL League of Legends Philippine Finals 3. Mineski Pro Gaming League (MPGL) Dota 2 Philippine Finals 4. MPGL Assault Fire Philippine Finals 5. MPGL Dragon Nest Philippine Finals 6. MPGL Ultra Street Fighter 4 Philippine Finals 7. Point Blank Revolution 8. Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm 9. Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Pinoy2DFighters, the 2D fighting game community here in the Philippines, will be attending to host tournaments for Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and Injustice: Gods Among Us. For those looking for some Persona 4 Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold action, PinoyPS got you covered- they will be hosting a tournament during the event.

So there...E-Sports...check! Now, that's not the only thing attendees get to see during ESGS. Local game developers and publishers will have booths all around Halls 3 and 4 of the SMX Convention Center in Mall of Asia to feature the games they have developed. Other big gaming companies will also have a spot at the event, names such as Garena, Boomzap Entertainment, Asiasoft, Zeenoh and the International Game Developers Association Manila Chapter. So, if you're looking to get your foot into the gaming industry, this would be a perfect place for you to mingle.

Here's the list of developers/publishers as of October 23, 2014 that's confirmed to be at the event:

Quickfire Games -  http://quickfire-games.com/ Skillshot Labs -  http://skillshotlabs.com/ Synergy88 -  http://www.synergy88studios.com/ Zeenoh -  http://www.zeenoh.com/ Figment Games-  http://www.figmentgames.com/ AsiaSoft-  https://epins.gamex.ph/ Gameclub - http://ph.gameclub.com/ Garena - http://www.garena.ph/

If there's one event you can't miss as a gamer, it will have to be this one. We hardly get a chance to see local game developers come together to show their amazing talent to the local gaming community, and let's not forget the E-Sports scene here, which is vastly growing into a beast that the rest of the world won't be able to ignore. We are excited that an event like this has finally surfaced. They are aiming big - a convention aiming to be in the likes of Tokyo Game Show (TGS), Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), or PAX. If successful, just imagine how ESGS would be for the community in the next few years.

Tickets are now available for purchase at all SM Ticket outlets in all SM Cinemas nationwide. A single ticket will cover only one day of the event and will cost you P150, so that's P300 if you want to fill up your weekend. Tickets are limited, so I suggest you run to your nearest SM (it's right around the corner, I'm sure) to secure your spot at the event floor. If you want more information about the event, or wish to see the latest updates as we get closer to event, head over to ESGS's official Facebook page for more details.

The TMG crew will be working on a full coverage of the event, so that all of you can see every nook and cranny of the first ever ESGS.

Evolve delayed to February 2015

Take Two Entertainment just announced that Evolve, the new multiplayer shooter from Turtle Rock Studios(Left4Dead creator) will be pushed back to next year February. It was originally planned for an October release but hey, more time for development is never a bad thing. 

Why the sudden delay? A 2K representative gave a statement to Polygon on why the four versus one multiplayer releasing next year:

"As stated on the Take-Two Interactive earnings call, 2K and Turtle Rock Studios are extending the development of Evolve by a few months to allow enough time to fully realize the vision for Evolve and meet our collective standards of creative excellence. We are encouraged by the press reaction and fan excitement coming out of a very successful E3, and we are now certain we are headed in the right direction with the game and we are confident in delivering a genre-defining product when Evolve launches on February 10, 2015."

Evolve is an online multiplayer shooter that pins four players as hunters going against one monster controlled by another player. The game will be available on PS4. Xbox One, and PC.

It was looking to be a very heavy October in the last few weeks, but these amount of delays are turning out to be a good sign since highly anticipated titles are being spread out through the coming months. Evolve is a new franchise after all, so it releasing on a less crowded month is more beneficial for Turtle Rock Studios.