Wed Jul 29 12:30:00 EDT 2020
Super Mario Party felt like a missed opportunity to anyone who hoped for even a smidgen of DLC, and I can't shake the feeling that my beloved Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics will probably have a similar fate. Outside of a launch-day update in early June, we haven't seen any movement.
I briefly got my hopes up this week when an update – version 1.1.2 – started downloading. I should've known better. It's not a precursor to new games, and it doesn't add any quality-of-life features that folks have been asking for like expanded local multiplayer support for groups and Pro Controllers.
Instead, the July 28 update mainly deals with bug fixes (in Ludo, Mahjong, Renegade, and Texas Hold'em, among others) and strives to improve the "stability of synchronous communication when playing online." The latter point is noteworthy, though – online play can be super shaky. It needs work.
The update also "raised the maximum Play Count for each game from 99 to 999." I've definitely played more than a hundred rounds of Renegade in a misguided attempt to beat the Impossible AI. Stop me.
I'd gladly pay for more Clubhouse, but if it never materializes, I'll still pop back in from time to time.
How to Update Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics [Nintendo]
Me, to anyone who tries to silence my off-key wailings that pitifully approximate Freddie Mercury's cherubic voice: Don't stop me now.
There's a Queen-themed Let's Sing game headed to consoles this fall. Let's Sing Queen is a collection of 30 classic Queen songs assembled together for your at-home karaoke needs. Like other Let's Sing games, this edition supports USB mics but most people will find it most convenient to sing through their phones via a dedicated Let's Sing app.
The full track list hasn't been revealed, but here's what has been called out in the press release and shown via screenshots:
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The next Sea of Thieves update belongs on the cover of the cheesiest '80s metal album. Get ready to melt some faces -- not through the sickest of guitar riffs but through actual hot hot heat.
The Ashen Winds update is live and it introduces a new enemy type called the Ashen Lords. They're a fiery bunch -- literally. Their presence is marked by a firenado. They're capable of turning their faces into flamethrowers. They summon meteor storms. Thematically, you get the idea.
There's a badass payoff for dealing with the sweaty temperature change. Ashen Lords will drop the Ashen Winds skull which is straight-up a skull the spits fire. It's a great way stop another buccaneer dead in their tracks. It's an even better way of setting another crew's all-wood ship aflame. Wood, as I understand it, is extremely flammable.
It's not a permanent accessory, though. They burn hot and flame out quick. The Order of Souls will buy skulls from you, but they're willing to pay a lot less if you've used up all the firepower. An empty propane tank is a worthless propane tank.
Here are the full patch notes for the Sea of Thieves Ashen Winds update.
Publisher Microids has announced a remastered edition of action-adventure title Asterix & Obelix XXL, adapted from René Goscinny's classic French comic. The remaster, or "romaster" is in development at Osome Studio for PC and consoles.
Originally released in 2003 on PS2, Asterix and Obelix XXL sees the Gaulish warriors defend their village from the might of The Roman Empire, exploring the environment, solving puzzles, and uppercutting Roman soldiers into the sun. Asterix & Obelix XXL would eventually be ported to PC and GameCube, and was followed by two sequels in later years.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered will feature overhauled visuals, reworked animations, new game modes, an improved camera and control system, as well as the option to switch to the classic aesthetics if you want to relive that early '00s lifestyle. Microids is yet to offer video of the game in action, but has noted an October 22 launch date, so shine your knuckles.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered launches October 22 on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered announced [Gematsu]
NetherRealm Studios has finally revealed the first of its promised DLC skin packs, which will be winging their way to owners of Mortal Kombat 11 expansion pack Aftermath.
The Summer Heat Skin Pack - launching August 6 - includes a barbecue outfit for Baraka, which outfits the Tarkatan warlord in a chef's hat, apron, and a link of sausages. Also bundled is a lovely summer outfit for Kitana, which features an ornate robe, mask and hat, and a gaudy Stars and Stripes suit for gunslinger Erron Black. In addition, a new skin for Johnny Cage, which outfits the superstar in an all-gold ensemble, is available right now.
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I'm at the point with Marvel's Avengers where no amount of footage or new info – not even the introduction of Hawkeye as the first free post-launch hero – will raise or lower my interest in the game. I kind of just need to play it, get a feel for the combat and character variety, and go from there.
That said, today's War Table stream was our most convincing look yet at Avengers.
Crystal Dynamics shared an overview of next month's beta, and it sounds surprisingly generous. There's a lot of content – enough that it took a nearly 10-minute recap video to cover every beat. In short, the Avengers beta will have "20 co-op/single-player missions" and "four heroes that give a sample of customizations, outfits, and upgrades." They are: Iron Man, Hulk, Kamala, and Black Widow.
Some of these beta missions are story-centric – including the now-beat-into-the-ground Golden Gate Bridge sequence, and a trip to the Pacific Northwest to find JARVIS and fight Abomination – and others are essentially gear-grinding challenge rooms. My favorite bit? The idea of rolling into War Zone missions with a squad of decked-out AI-controlled characters rather than teaming up with players.
As for beta progression, characters have access to their "starting Skill page," unlocks will carry from one beta session to the next, and you'll be able to rank up to Hero Level 15 and Power Level 45.
The important beta dates:
August 7 – PlayStation Advantage Pre-order Beta: As part of our PlayStation Advantage, those of you who have pre-ordered Marvel's Avengers will be the first in the world to get your hands on Earth's Mightiest Heroes the weekend of August 7-9. Pre-load: August 6.I'm convinced that a bunch of Marvel fans are going to show up for this game and have a good enough time with it at launch, but as far as timely, robust, sustainable long-term content updates? That's where things can get dicey even with the best intentions. This isn't our first live-service-game rodeo.
August 14 – Open Beta: The second Beta weekend will be open to the entire PS4 community as part of our PlayStation Advantage partnership. [As well as Xbox One and PC pre-order players.] Pre-load: August 13.
August 21 – Open Beta: Same as the above – our final weekend is also an Open Beta for all PlayStation players [and all Xbox One and PC players]. Pre-load: August 20.
Worth noting: "the 'Reassemble' campaign follows Kamala Khan reuniting the Avengers and taking on the current AIM threat led by MODOK. Following that, players will enter the ever-present Avengers Initiative. Through the renovated helicarrier, you'll expand your team to protect Earth from an array of threats, and in doing so, gain access to new heroes, new missions, and new regions [post-launch]."
We'll have a much better grasp of Marvel's Avengers once the beta rolls out, that's for sure.
Marvel's Avengers War Table brings Beta breakdown & Hawkeye reveal [PlayStation Blog]
Most people figured it's just a matter of time until Microsoft acquires Moon Studios and adds it to the ever-growing stable of Xbox developers. Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are two of the best Xbox-published games this console generation, making Moon Studios a prime candidate to join the fold permanently. Not so fast.
Take-Two Interactive-owned publishing label Private Division has announced that it signed Moon Studios to a publishing agreement. The extent of the deal wasn't disclosed, but it presumably involves at least one new game. As Metro points out, Microsoft owns the Ori property which means that Moon will probably have to stray from its beloved woodlands critter if this game is multi-platform.
Private Division's wheeling and dealing isn't confined to one team. It's also publishing OlliOlli developer Roll7's next game. Roll7 had a three-game stretch where Devolver published its stuff, followed by a one-off with 505 Games for Laser League. Also lumped into the announcement is League of Geeks who is most well-known for the board game Armello, which was adapted into a video game a few years ago. Private Division is also publishing League of Geeks' next video game.
Private Division Teams up with Moon Studios, League of Geeks, and Roll7 on Upcoming New Games [Private Division]
Some of the Japanese fighting game publishers attending this weekend's "Roundtable discussion live stream" have teased that they will be bringing new announcements regarding their respective fighters.
Bandai Namco has announced that it will have new news regarding both Tekken 7 and Soulcalibur VI, while Arc System Works has stated its intention to premier a new character trailer for Guilty Gear Strive. Given the cancellation of EVO earlier this year, it would figure that these publishers had reveals scheduled for the annual fighting game tournament. Capcom will also be holding its own live stream on August 5 to discuss the future of its premier scrapper, Street Fighter V.
Capcom, ArcSys, and Bandai Namco will also be joined on Saturday's roundtable stream by Arika, SNK, and Koei Tecmo. It has been one of the most difficult years in living memory for the fighting game genre. It will be interesting to see what steps are taken by both the community and the industry itself to restore confidence, excitement, and - most importantly - safety within the competitive scene.
The Japan Fighting Game Publisher Roundtable takes place August 1.
Let's take a trip down Lucky's Tale lane, as the history of this franchise is a bit confusing at this point.
Back in 2016, Playful partnered with Oculus Studios to release the inaugural Lucky game on the Oculus Rift; a VR platformer featuring the titular fox. From there Playful pivoted out of VR and into the "regular" gaming sphere with Super Lucky's Tale, a sequel released in late 2017 on PC and Xbox One.
Following that Microsoft partnership Playful pivoted once again to Nintendo with the Switch exclusive New Super Lucky's Tale (described as an "expanded version" of the game), which ended up becoming not-so-exclusive. Yep, Playful is bringing New Super Lucky's Tale to PS4 and Xbox One on August 21.
Having played them all, I can say that although you shouldn't rush out to get them day one, they deserve to be part of the overall platforming conversation. It's wonderful to see mascot platformers still alive and well today, and if Lucky made his mark on an older platform like the Nintendo 64 or the PlayStation, he'd probably still be around.
Playful [Twitter]
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has destroyed its crowdfunding target, amassing over $2M USD - from an initial goal of $500K - in a little over 48 hours. Development will now go ahead on the retro-styled RPG, with an estimated release date of October 2022.
As we reported earlier this week, Eiyuden Chronicle is 2.5D JRPG that is designed to be an authentic throwback to the dormant-but-beloved Suikoden series, similar in concept to what Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is to the Castlevania. Set in the fantasy realm of Allran, players will become entwined in a bitter war between neighbouring nations, as the burgeoning Galdean Empire seeks to increase its power and command of Allran.
Eiyuden Chronicle will feature real-time exploration and turn-based battles, as players recruit friends and allies from a huge list of 100 original characters. When not out exploring the land, players must also renovate and galvanise their town, providing homes, improving local businesses and the economy, while protecting its people against those who would do them harm. Heading up the project are several key members of the original Suikoden team, including artist Junko Kawano and original creator Yoshitaka Murayama.
It all sounds very cool, and thanks to this hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, it looks set to get cooler still. As the fund grows and stretch goals are smashed, several new modes and mini-games have already been confirmed for the final release. It's worth keeping an eye on this one, adventure fans, it could be something very special indeed.
Eiyuden Chronicle is tentatively expected to launch on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and "Nintendo's next generation console" in October 2022.
So what you will about the depth of Smash Ultimate's weekly spirit events, but man the team has come up with some really fun themes: not to mention the fact that they've kept them alive for this long! Smash Ultimate turns two in roughly four months!
Take this new event for instance: Cool summer, blue spirits. Whoever designed this promotional image needs a raise! As usual it'll be held over three days, starting on Friday. The official Smash Bros. Twitter account explains that the spirit board will host "a lot of blue spirits," and you'll "net more gold than usual" playing through them.
Can I just say how wild it is that Sonic Adventure's Chaos is technically in the same game as Capcom's Hard Man? Or Enguarde the Swordfish from Donkey Kong Country is crossing paths with Wonder Blue from Wonderful 101? Smash Bros.' openness to these types of partnerships and Nintendo's seemingly endless address book are truly is amazing.
Smash Bros JP [Twitter]
Good news for fans of FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Activision has announced that the ninja-tastic adventure has raked in five million global sales since its launch in March 2019. Not only that, but Sekiro is to receive a free update in October, which will implement a selection of exciting new modes and features.
Launching on October 29, the "Additional Features Update" will add boss rush modes Reflection of Strength and Gauntlet of Strength, allowing savvy shinobi the chance to replay any previously completed boss battle, or take on a run of bosses in a rock-solid single-life challenge.
Meanwhile, the new "Remnants" feature will let players record snippets of their greatest in-game moments, uploading them with brief messages for the whole community to see - whether an expertly performed takedown or the agile discovery of a secret hiding area. If a player watches and rates a remnant while the uploader is in-game, then the uploader will receive a small HP boost in real-time.
Finally, three new outfits will be made available in Wolf's wardrobe. Players will unlock two of the outfits via the new gauntlet modes, while the third is unlocked by beating the campaign. Make sure you're looking dapper while you're running rooftops and jumping treetops.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Last week's announcement of Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy was good news for fans of cute RPGs with crap-loads of crafting. Following its debut in the Japanese Nintendo Mini Direct, Koei Tecmo promised fans outside of Japan a special reveal of the game that took place this morning. Not only did we get a new trailer showing off some of the locations we'll be exploring, but we also got a confirmation of a winter release in the west and the introduction of the new character Fi.
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The time has finally come for Phantasy Star Online 2 to be free of the Windows launcher and arrive on Steam. When that day arrives (August 5, by the way!), it'll bear some gifts for Steam users.
According to the official PSO2 blog, Sega is rolling out rewards for folks who log in on Steam. All you have to do is log into the game near the release date to grab the Headcrab Emote from Half-Life, as well as a number of booster items. If you finish any quest once on normal or casual difficulty (or higher), you'll get the Pyro's gas mask from Team Fortress 2, as well as the Alyx hairstyle from Half-Life Alyx.
For finishing any quest on hard/hardcore difficulty, you'll get a Wheatley evolution device, as well as a Left 4 Dead frying pan, a Team Fortress 2 minigun and a Half-Life crowbar. Continuing on (haha, this list is actually pretty great), for completing any quest on very hard difficulty or higher, you'll get a Half-Life HEV suit, and completing any quest for times on super hard difficulty will net you an Alyx replica outfit from Half-Life Alyx. Phew!
As a reminder, the game is cross-play and will offer cross-progress with the Steam edition. So you really have nothing to lose if you want to go for broke and grab these items: just know that in typical PSO2 fashion, they'll be "distributed at a later date." Good luck!
PSO2: Steam Launch Rewards [Sega]
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Tomorrow, Nintendo's mobile battler Fire Emblem Heroes will get metal-as-fuck with the arrival of a brand new Legendary Hero. Hel: Death Sovereign will be added to the mix of heroes and villains, bringing with her a particularly morbid, end-of-days skill set.
Hel is the main antagonist of Fire Emblem Heroes Book III and her dark powers will now be in your hands. Ruler of The Land of The Dead, Hel is a terrifying apparition, equipped with a legion of departed souls, '80s metal corpse paint, and an unnervingly gleeful disposition. Her power now available in the hands of the players should make for an interesting departure from FeH's typical sword-and-sorcery combat.
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[Update: Nintendo of America has confirmed that the promo will run in the west. The exact US times are July 29 through August 4 at 11:59PM PT.]
[Update #2: The promotion is live today! You can download Pokken Tournament DX here and play it until the above time.]
Once again, Japan gets to reap an extra benefit of regional Switch Online: free game sessions.
Not to be confused with "free-to-play," where a game is fully free and monetized as such, Pokken Tournament DX will be free to try out for Switch Online subscribers from July 27 through August 2. Translation? It's like Steam's "free weekend" promos.
Basically from those dates on, you'll be able to download the entire game and play it for free, so long as you meet those aforementioned regional and subscription requirements. It's a very cool perk of Switch Online that the west doesn't really get to partake in often: hint hint, Nintendo, start making Switch Online a little more enticing, please.
While local LAN parties aren't necessarily all the rage right now, this is a great opportunity to hang out with the family and let loose with a very chill and fun fighter. I even have the wonky controller for it ready to go sometimes!
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[Update: The fourth Destructoid AMA session is now live! So take a minute to stop by our official forums and take the rare opportunity to Ask Your Anything to Destructoid Co-EIC and Reviews Director Chris Carter. Have Fun!]
Yup! You heard that right. Starting this month, we’ll be hosting a series of AMAs (ask me anything) with members of Destructoid and our sister sites on the new and improved Destructoid forums.
If you've never been to one of these, the way it typically works is that the host commits to an hour to thoughtfully answer questions as they are submitted in semi-real time. You can come on the event day to participate, or enjoy the responses any time after. It's a great way to connect with the people that run this joint.
Here's the full schedule so far:
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Back in June, we hosted our first ever So You Think You Can Stream contest, sponsored by G-Fuel and Luminosity . We got to see a lot of talented individuals, and a couple of impeccably sexy faces from the Destructoid community, compete to win $5,000. Not only was it a huge success, but it was also just a genuinely fun time for a lot of the folks involved.
Well, as soon as that contest drew to a close, we decided that we should make an even bigger and better one happen in the very near future. Starting on August 2, that contest will be underway, and we hope to see as many folks from the Destructoid community check it out!
After listening to a lot of audience and streamer feedback, we’ve decided to make a few changes to the format for our second contest.
During the initial So You Think You Can Stream contest, entrants had twenty minutes to demonstrate their talents as Twitch streamers to the Destructoid community and Dreezy, one of our two resident streamers. They were then ranked both on skill and style points – essentially, how good they were at the game, and how entertaining they were.
From there, the top three, and a personality voted for by the community, battled it out for that top spot.
Here’s a few of the changes that we’ve made for our second contest:
First off, we’re cutting out the skill points category for voting. Folks will now be ranked entirely on how stylish they are. What counts as stylish, you might be asking? That’s simple! It’s a measure of how entertaining you are. Are you adept at coming up with amusing puns on the spot? Do you have a kickass lighting setup? Are you just downright fun to chat to? These could all count towards those sweet, sweet style points.
Then there’s a couple of changes to the tournament structure, itself.
For the first round in this tournament, entrants will have ten minutes to impress us (and Dreezy) with their personalities while they play any game of their choosing. Heck, even Old School RuneScape would be valid here. The one caveat is that the game must be appropriate to stream on Twitch. Apologies to anyone who wanted to stream Nekopara, but this means that you'll need to uninstall that 18+ patch.
During the second round, there’ll be three judges selected by Destructoid instead of just Dreezy. Only the top twelve contestants from round one will move over to this stage of the competition.
During both of these rounds, community members will still be able to vote alongside Dreezy and the other judges and, like the initial tournament, results will be pooled to determine who moves on to the next round.
Community picks, too, will still be totally in effect. And neither Dreezy nor any other non-audience judge will be able to impact who moves on to that final round.
Oh, and I guess there is the most obvious change: the prize is now $10,000 instead of $5,000.
Alongside this wonderful cash prize, the winner will be fast-tracked the top 32 during Luminosity Gaming’s upcoming Rising Stars tournament, where they can battle it out to win $100,000 and a one year contract with these esports titans! This opportunity would have been offered as a prize to the winner of our previous So You Think You Can Stream contest, RockyNoHands, but his performance was just so impressive that he was signed up with the organisation pretty much immediately.
We’d love to see as many of our beloved Destructoid community members sign up to this tournament as possible, so check out the sign-up sheet and hopefully we can throw our Dollarydoos at you. Either way, feel free to head on over to our Twitch channel at 8:30PM EST starting on August 2 to watch all of the action!
One of the key elements that goes into making a classic Tony Hawk title is a great, memorable soundtrack. And while Activision's upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 will feature most of (but not all) of the classic hits from the original PlayStation releases, the new OST will also be expanded with the addition of 37 new songs.
A gamut of genres will be featured in the remaster, with heavy leanings toward the skate-friendly ska-punk sound. Names even Old Man Moyse recognises like Reel Big Fish, Sublime, The Ataris and A Tribe Called Quest will be joined by the likes of DZ Deathrays, Chick Norris and - checks notes - Viagra Boys. Back in my day, etc.
You can check out a select cut of the complete soundtrack right here on Spotify. I mean, we're all just going to be playing "Superman" by Goldfinger on a loop anyway, right?
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 launches September 4 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Games Store.
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In today's contest we're giving away Switch and Steam copies of Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break!
Who likes quirky mixes of tower defense, level building, mass destruction, and Monty Python-styled humor? *checks hands*
Ok! Well come win a Switch or Steam copy of Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break, featuring everything listed above and more.
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As we approach the Thursday release date for Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On, Bandai Namco has released a new trailer for the game. The focus of the trailer is the new Maxi Boost Mission mode, which is the other half of the game's offline offerings. So to finally have some information about this is a blessing for many.
You can check out the trailer and its long-awaited details below.
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The PlayStation 5 will seemingly have a dedicated function for getting the player directly into specific parts of a game. It's a feature called "Activities" and we're first learning about it via a media preview leak.
Recently, European outlet Gamereactor previewed racing game WRC 9 which will launch on both current- and next-gen consoles. In the presentation (which was presumably done remotely and controlled by the developer and/or publisher), the Activities function was demonstrated and described as "an instant deeplink to specific races directly from the [PS5's] menu."
Gamereactor has pulled its preview of WRC 9. However, Gematsu captured it and posted the relevant bit to Twitter:
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PlayStation 4 is getting an absolute gem of an indie game today. Nearly three years after launch, Cuphead is coming to PS4. That's not the end of the surprises.
Studio MDHR is working on a treat for Cuphead's earliest adopters. The Xbox version is getting free special update that includes a digital art gallery, behind-the-scenes commentary, and a playable soundtrack. It's like the bonus features disc in a DVD box set.
The special update isn't imminent. The developer says it's in "the early planning stages." Also, Studio MDHR is probably prioritizing work on the Delicious Last Course add-on moreso than a free update. But, whenever it arrives, it'll be a nice little touch and a tip of the hat to the platform that most heavily promoted Cuphead.
Surprise!! Cuphead is Coming to PlayStation 4...And It's Out Today! [Studio MDHR]
Kingdom and Kingdom: New Lands developer Noio is onto something special with Cloud Gardens, a relaxing simulation game about planting seeds so nature can overtake "lo-fi scenes of urban decay."
I was on board with that one-sentence pitch, but Cloud Gardens goes deeper – there's a bit of motivational structure for players who don't just want to creatively unwind. Outside of a care-free sandbox mode, there are six "campaign"-like chapters "where the task is to strike a balance between nature and the manufactured by covering each scene with salvaged objects and lush vegetation."
"As you overgrow the objects, a meter fills to show your progress," says Noio. "You are given objects to expand the scene. These objects contribute energy to the growing of plants, but you will also have to cover them in foliage to complete the stage, striking a balance between nature and the manufactured."
It's beautiful and thoughtful and I badly want to play it. I appreciate that there's more substance to the game than just dropping seeds and watching them take root (which would've been fine). Even without that concept, I'd still want to mess around with these dioramas. The low-poly look is enticing.
Cloud Gardens will be on Steam Early Access for "about three months" and it's launching "soon." If you're captivated by this sort of soothing game design, you should also look into Townscaper.
A girl with fungus growing out of her face?
Let's hope she doesn't come across Ellie or Joel.
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Maximum Games has announced that it will publish a physical release of nWay's tag-fighter Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. A "Collector's Edition" will launch on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on October 8, priced at around $30.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid Collector's Edition will feature the base title updated with its single-player story mode and balance tweaks. This edition also comes bundled with Power Rangers Super Samurai character Lauren Shiba. It should be made clear that this is not a "GOTY" style edition and - while it does feature a 16-strong roster - it does not contain all DLC characters released to date.
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DrinkBox Studios hasn't made a bad game yet. I'm starting to think it never will.
The makers of Guacamelee, Severed, and Mutant Blobs Attack have begun teasing their next project, and given that history, it could be a sequel, a new property, or anything, really, and I'd be stoked.
The zoomed-in gif appears to show blinking eyes – or maybe that's just what they want us to think.
I'm convinced we'll get another Guacamelee one day – it's such a distinct world that's worth exploring even further – but I'm ready to see this team branch out if something else sparked their interest.
@DrinkBoxStudios [Twitter]
This past weekend McFarlane Toys - the merch manufacturer owned by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane - announced that it had secured the rights to produce a run of action figures based on popular fantasy RPG franchise The Witcher.
While the company had nothing specifically to reveal in terms of designs or prototypes, it was revealed that the first run of figures will be based specifically on characters featured in 2015 release The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and are optimistically expected to release in the fall of this year.
McFarlane Toys are renowned for their great sculpts and complex, intricate detailing, so Witcher fans should definitely keep an eye out for this new range of bookshelf-fillers. Geralt is a given, but I'm looking forward to seeing figures for Yennefer, Ciri, and hopefully the wooden tub playset.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
McFarlane Toys nabs the rights to make Witcher figures [Superhero Hype]
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Xbox Game Pass is an excellent subscription service that offers one of the best (if not the best) values in gaming. Xbox Games with Gold, on the other hand, has been on a steady decline over the past several months.
That trend doesn't change in August, as there's no clear-cut headliner out of the bunch. On Xbox One, it's Minecraft-like Portal Knights and fighter Override: Mech City Brawl. There's a double dose of original Xbox nostalgia for the backward compatibility games as 2004's MX Unleashed and 2002's Red Faction II round out the month.
Is there a correlation between Game Pass' ascent and Games with Gold's descent? Is Game Pass' ever-expanding library snuffing out candidates for future Games with Gold freebies? The business side of it all is obviously confidential and unclear. But one thing is increasingly apparent: Games with Gold is routinely underwhelming while Game Pass becomes more and more of an essential service.
Here's the full Xbox Games with Gold breakdown for August:
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Square Enix has announced that the Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack will see its official release on November 11, offering up majestic and dramatic scores taken from the epic RPG sequel as well as a selection of recent Kingdom Hearts side-titles.
The soundtrack will feature the music of Kingdom Hearts III, Kingdom Hearts III ReMIND, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, and finally Kingdom Hearts Union Cross. While the full tracklist is yet to be revealed, the set will include somewhere in the region of 160 tracks taken from across the five titles.
The physical edition will consist of eight discs and will retail for ¥13,200, or roughly $125 USD. Pre-orders are open now at a variety of Japanese outlets including Tower Records, Amazon Japan, Sony Music Shop and Square's own digital store. While the digital release has been described as "worldwide", seemingly no western retail store is offering pre-orders on the physical edition, so fans might have to bite the bullet on an import.
Kingdom Hearts III is available now on PS4 and Xbox One.
Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack set to release worldwide [KH13 for Kingdom Hearts]
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Capcom has announced that it will be holding a special live stream next week dedicated to the future of its flagship fighting title Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.
Available for streaming on the Capcom Fighters YouTube and Twitch channels, the "Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Summer Update" hosts and special guests will deliver news about Street Fighter and its competitive scene, while also revealing brand new characters headed your way in Season V.
As you may recall, Street Fighter V was planning to enter its home straight after Season IV, but the one-on-one fighter's ongoing success has encouraged Capcom to deliver one more batch of fresh content. Be sure to tune in, August 5 at 10:00 PT / 13:00 ET / 18:00 BST, and see what awaits in the twilight period of one of Street Fighter's most tumultuous entries.
Street Fighter V is available now on PS4 and PC.
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We've seen several entities use Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a new way to spread information or teach folks: but now the Tokyo fire department is joining in on the fun.
Revealed last week, the official Tokyo fire department Twitter account has noted that the staff will be "relocated" to a digital island, where they'll "transmit" information to folks on how to stay safe and prevent disasters. As a kid, I would have went wild for these kinds of gimmicks revolving around games.
More recently the account made its first post, giving out tips on how to prevent a heat stroke (frequent hydration, wear a hat, use an air conditioner) and stop drowning incidents (watch your kids, don't swim after drinking, pay attention to inclement weather). The accompanying New Horizons image shows a fire department member's avatar sitting near a fan to beat the heat.
It's the exact wholesome content we need right now!
Tokyo Fire Department [Twitter] Thanks John!
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[Update: Sega has confirmed that PSO2 will arrive on Steam on August 5, which will allow you to link your existing account and cross-play with Windows/Xbox One users. On that same day, Episode 4 (a huge content update) will arrive on both PC and Xbox One. You can watch the trailer for that below.]
Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally out in the west...but it might not be on your choice of platform.
It hit the Xbox One this past April, with a PC release following in May. The thing is, that PC edition didn't launch so swimmingly, most notably due to some issues with the Windows 10 launcher. While Sega has patched up some of those problems the experience isn't silky smooth just yet: though Steam might be an option soon.
Wait, Steam?! Yes, it looks like Microsoft doesn't have a Gollum-hold on the game for the foreseeable future, as a new listing for Phantasy Star Online 2 just popped up on Steam today. According to the page it'll be out on August 5, which is much sooner than a lot of us probably anticipated. Yay for options!
This bodes well for the upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis project, which is also confirmed for PC on top of the Xbox family of consoles. While everyone feared that this entire western PSO2 umbrella would be forced into Windows 10, Steam is back on the menu.
Phantasy Star Online 2 [Steam] Thanks Ravenclaw!
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Here's the TL;DR on this one upfront because the one-sentence summary is so ridiculous that it deserves to be front and center: Ubisoft hired Dragon Age's creative director to make a new fantasy game, and then canceled it because an executive didn't like fantasy games.
In a report from Bloomberg, we learn that Ubisoft had a King Arthur-themed project in the works at Ubisoft Quebec which was the lead development studio on Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Ubisoft had hired Mike Laidlaw from BioWare to head up the project; Laidlaw has cachet to his name, as he was credited as lead designer on Dragon Age and its sequel before serving as creative director on Dragon Age: Inquisition. Internally, the game was codenamed "Avalon."
Ubisoft was gunning for an interesting market with Avalon. It was structured as a cooperative multiplayer action RPG akin to Monster Hunter. It's easy to imagine how Assassin's Creed Odyssey's core combat infrastructure could be adapted and expanded into something that fits the Monster Hunter mold.
However, it was all for naught. Laidlaw left Ubisoft in early 2019 and the project was canceled shortly thereafter. Reportedly, Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoët hated the fantasy setting and had ridiculous mandates that it be "better than Tolkien." Suddenly, this Round Table fable "full of knights and legends" had to pump the brakes to appease one executive. The development team tried shifting to a new setting to no avail.
Hascoët is now gone from Ubisoft. He was one of the high-profile departures earlier this month in the wake of Ubisoft's outing as a company that habitually hid and protected sexual abuse and harassment, and facilitated a toxic and misogynistic workplace. Stubbornly bodying this game into being canned is a far cry from Hascoët's worst crime. But, it seems like he had rigid expectations of what defined a Ubisoft title (as evidence by the similar-seeming glut of games under his reign) and he was unwilling to be flexible on that front. We can only wonder "what if" in hindsight.
Ubisoft's Planned King Arthur Game Was Nixed by Ex-Creative Head [Bloomberg]
Slowly but surely, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is adding in the features fans fell for in previous entries of the franchise. A few weeks ago, swimming and deep-sea diving were added in the first of two promised summer updates. Only July 30, the second update will drop, adding weekly fireworks shows to your island and the ability to visit distant lands when you sleep.
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As we shared back at the start of June, Twitch Prime is partnering with SNK to give Prime members free stuff.
Seven games (mostly fighters) were dumped on the service last month, but now Twitch is ready to deliver seven more as of today. Those games are Metal Slug 2, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Baseball Stars 2, Sengoku 3, Ironclad and King of the Monsters. This time around SNK is going hard with beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups.
It's kind of a trick though: in a good way! One of those seven games (SNK 40th Anniversary Collection) is actually a bundle of 24 other games: sneaky! That one includes titles such as Beat Busters, Baseball Stars and Ozma Wars.
You can find the full list below for the second collection, as well as the first run, which is still live on Twitch Prime. As a reminder, you can claim them here.
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Hollywood superstar Brie Larson has once again expressed her desire to don the famous power armour of Samus Aran, should Nintendo ever see fit to producing a movie based on beloved sci-fi franchise Metroid.
The Captain Marvel star reiterated her hopes of playing the legendary bounty hunter in a recent interview on Gary Whitta's quirky Animal Talking show, where the host interviews stars within a virtual Animal Crossing-style TV studio. When asked about the potential role, Larson enthusiastically responded.
"I would love that so much," said Larson. "I was Samus for Halloween two years ago… It was literally a $20 costume I bought off of Amazon... I was so excited about it, and so I posted a picture of it on Instagram of me and the costume and it turned into this thing of people being like 'woah!' [Samus] was always my character that I played in Super Smash Bros. and I just loved her. So that whole thing started and I’ve definitely not put a squash to that story and I definitely want to make that movie... So, Nintendo, once again, I would love to do it!"
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[Update: Today on Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest stream, Studio MDHR's Maja Moldenhauer confirmed that Cuphead will hit PS4 today. The Delicious Last Course DLC will eventually launch on "all platforms day one." You can read more about Cuphead's PS4 release on the PlayStation Blog.]
"Leak" might be an especially-fitting term when discussing a game about cups that are full of liquid. Or, maybe that's overthinking it and we should just relish an incredible indie game finally arriving on its final major platform.
An international PlayStation Store listing has popped up that outs a PS4 port of Cuphead. Coupled with that -- err, "cuppled?" -- is a tease from Geoff Keighley that promotes "a special update from one of our favorite indie game studios."
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It's almost like I felt a wave of collective "oh nos" this morning as everyone on the internet rushed to check their PSPs.
As pointed out by IT Media, cases of PSP owners reporting that their cases are bursting open due to battery expansion has been surging these past few weeks. I went and checked mine right away (a slim and a regular): you'll note the 3.6v 1200mAh battery on the former and the 3.6v 1800mAh on the latter (which is a snug fit). Take a gander at the pictures linked in the previous passage in case you need help locating your battery. Here is a picture of a battery gone horribly wrong.
Now, this is not out of sorts for lithium-based batteries. I've experienced this before with legacy phones and wireless headsets. But it's a good reminder nonetheless to check your stash and make sure everything is good to go. Sony has provided a statement to IT Media, noting that people should "refrain from using [the system] when the battery has experienced swelling," and to not game with the battery cover off. Ensure that you dispose of it properly.
Sony should bring back Marcus to do PSA videos for battery safety.
PSP [IT Media via Kotaku]
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How does Sony sell people on one of the most wildly successful PlayStation exclusives featuring one of the most wildly famous and iconic comic book heroes? By confusing them! Very thematic! Just like Mysterio.
We already suffered from mixed messaging when Sony appeared to debut Spider-Man: Miles Morales as a full sequel; then had to very quickly walk everything back. Now, it seems as if they may have undersold the game out of the gate. According to a writeup in Game Informer magazine (as spotted by Reddit member 77good123), Miles Morales will include a "remastered version of Insomniac's Spider-Man [PS4] that takes full advantage of the PS5 hardware." Record scratch: whaaaaat.
While a lot of people assumed this was coming (Sony touted a Spider-Man remaster as one of the first PS5 tech demos), it's strange that this wouldn't be the upfront message right inside of the showcase it was presented in. Insomniac has clarified that Miles Morales is a standalone game, but that doesn't prevent it from being bundled with a separate remaster.
We've reached out to Sony for clarification on the matter, because anything is possible with this game. At this point we are treating it as a rumor.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales [Game Informer via Reddit]
Back in June, Niantic CEO John Hanke announced that his company would be donating $5m USD in revenue to support a range of black gaming initiatives, projects and communities. However, Pokémon GO Fest 2020 - held on Niantic's AR title this past weekend - proved such a huge success that the company will now double its donation to $10m.
Pokémon GO Fest usually sees players from around the world gather together for a physical weekend of fun and critter-hunting, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the annual event to go all-digital this year. However, as reported by Eurogamer, this did not discourage would-be trainers, as "millions" of players from over 120 countries spent an astounding $25 million in-game during the weekend of July 24-26. These numbers boost Pokémon GO's yearly revenue to around $540m, with its global lifetime revenue reaching $3.7bn.
While Niantic is yet to state specifically how the $10m donation is to be divided, it had previously said that half of the money would go toward funding black gaming projects and creators that can live on the Niantic platform, while the remaining half would be spent on supporting local black communities and businesses. In addition, Niantic has made a donation to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, an organisation dedicated to protecting and defending the rights of black trans people. Niantic is also in the process of creating a new training programme to better educate its employees in combating systemic racism.
"It is up to non-Black allies to educate ourselves and each other," said Hanke back in June. "We hope this diversity and inclusion training can help provide the tools and resources to make us all better allies... Lastly, we will take a public stand in support of the Black community and reject white supremacy, racism, and police brutality."
Pokémon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.
Pokemon GO creator Niantic doubles Black Lives Matter donation to $10m [Eurogamer]
In today's contest you can win Carrion for Switch or Steam!
Well, this game sure it gross! Carrion hit digital storefronts last week, and like with most Devolver Digital joints, it's a weird one. So wrap your fleshy tentacles around a Switch or Steam copy while you still can!
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Bloober Team's The Medium is serving up scares months before it officially launches. Anyone with an outdated rig is going to find themselves cowering in fear at the sight of these Medium PC requirements.
The Medium is low-key going to be one of the Xbox Series X's technical showcases, as its hook is that it renders two worlds on-screen at the same time. This is probably the reason we're seeing some inflated PC specs. It's a game that asks a lot of the hardware.
Curiously, the official specs don't mandate an SSD (which is a linchpin feature of the next generation of consoles). Instead, it recommends one but it isn't absolutely necessary. The day is coming where we see a next-gen game that requires an SSD. Today isn't that day.
Instead, it seems as if RAM and VRAM do a lot of the heavy lifting. The GPU specs are pretty beefy, especially for anyone who wants to run The Medium with ray tracing on. The RAM requirements hit 16GB at the middle tier of settings, but that's becoming closer and closer to the norm at this point.
Here are the minimum, medium (ha!), and recommended PC specs for The Medium:
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Not even two months after launching, Disintegration is giving away its story mode for free. That is, provided you're willing to dedicate a good chunk of the weekend to beating it.
Disintegration will be free this weekend on all platforms (PC, PS4, Xbox One) without any sort of gates other than your personal freetime. It's the full game, and the free period runs from Thursday, July 30 until Monday, August 3. That's more than enough time to clear the campaign which clocks in somewhere around 10 hours.
That's probably by design. In his review, Chris noted that the campaign was fine enough but that it felt like an "appetizer" for the multiplayer mode. It seems likely that developer V1 Interactive is simply using the campaign to familiarize people with the game, hoping that the multiplayer has hooks to keep them around.
If that tactic works, Disintegration will be 40 percent off on all platforms. If you're left underwhelmed -- hey, at least you got a free, new campaign out of it.
Here's the breakdown of start/stop times by platform:
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In a moment of self-reflection where we all just turn to dust, Blizzard has reminded everyone that today is the 10th anniversary of StarCraft II. There's a beefy 5.0 patch to celebrate the occasion.
Most of the anniversary update has to do with expanding the Galaxy Map Editor – expect lots of nitty-gritty features and better support for custom campaigns – but there are a few other things to bring up. There's a countdown timer in Versus matches once players have loaded in, a Prestige progression system for co-op Commanders to unlock talents, and new Campaign achievements for "all 83 missions."
I'm most excited about the latter – if nothing else, as a predominantly solo-focused RTS player, I adore Blizzard's mission designs. I always had to fight the urge to replay levels as soon as I finished them.
If you manage to earn every 10th anniversary achievement, you'll unlock the Stone announcer in StarCraft II. "These achievements can be earned on any difficulty above Normal. However, they are designed to be scalable and are possible, though extremely challenging, on even Brutal."
If you're not up to that commitment, you'll still get something new for showing up. You can unlock the White-Ra announcer just by logging into the game between July 27 and August 10, 2020.
The team is also planning to run down the "10 greatest games in StarCraft II esports" starting this week.
For many of us, this a chance to think back on the series at large and how amped we were for a StarCraft sequel. Things didn't work out exactly as expected for the story, and the esports scene – to say nothing of Blizzard as a company – has changed so much over the last decade. It's been a wild ride.
StarCraft II 5.0 Patch Notes, StarCraft II is Turning 10 [Blizzard]
The big story of the weekend has been the massive dump of assets and source codes for a decade's worth of Nintendo games. Where some companies are a bit too carefree with how they store their history, Nintendo doesn't appear to throw anything out. We've seen strange early versions of Yoshi, never-before-seen Zelda enemies, and the source codes to some of the greatest games on the SNES just dumped on the internet. It's fascinating, but could leaks like this and the gargantuan The Last of Us: Part II leak from a few months ago have a negative ripple effect for the people who work in and around the gaming industry?
That's just one of the topics discussed on this episode of Podtoid. CJ, Charlotte, and Occams are on hand to talk asset leaks, Ghost of Tsushima, Void Terrarium, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, and our favorite titles from last week's Xbox Games Showcase. All that, plus the idea that games starring women don't sell is bullshit, on Podtoid Episode 452.
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Birthdays. They only come once a year, so obviously you want to do something special to celebrate them. Many of us really want to make an event out of commemorating the date we came into being. Be it a small gathering with a handful of your closest friends, dinner with the family, or drinking far too much at a black metal concert.
Well, maybe that last one is just me.
Either way, we decided to help one of our beloved Twitch streamers, Dreezy, celebrate his birthday in style! On August 1 at 10:30PM, he'll be meeting up with long-time community manager and reviewer of all things Gundam, Mike Sounders (also known as Torchman to many folks on this site) to play the brand new Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme vs Maxiboost On.
Good lord, that title is a mouthful.
They'll be trialing its split-screen multiplayer features at one of Toronto's finest gaming bars, The Hive. Drinks may or may not be involved in the equation. Better yet, the entire event will be streamed live on our official Twitch channel!
Torchman and Dreezy will potentially be accompanied by Enthusiast Gaming (our parent company) CEO, Menashe Kestenbaum, better known as RavMenace to many of our Twitch viewers. Unless, of course, he decides that he has better things to do than to play Gundam with those two.
Will Torchman show up to the occasion wearing a full Turn A cosplay? Will Dreezy be in his birthday suit? The answer to both of these questions is "probably not," but it's sure to be a fun time, regardless.
During last week's Xbox Games Showcase, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 developer Fatshark introduced its new Left 4 Dead-like co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
There were two prevalent schools of thought. On one side, people were excited about a Warhammer zombie shooter, especially given how thick the horde looked in that teaser/debut trailer. On the other, people were left wondering how this is going to affect the ongoing development of Vermintide 2.
Fatshark has spent years dedicated to content updates and larger expansions for Vermintide 2. A major add-on, Chaos Wastes, is already in the pipeline. Will Vermintide 2 be put on the backburner for a next-gen project?
The short and emphatic answer: No. Fatshark addressed these concerns in a letter to the community, and explained that Darktide and Vermintide 2 will be developed simultaneously.
The studio says "We remain committed to Vermintide 2. We are looking forward to the continuous development of Vermintide 2, and the next major DLC update coming is Warhammer: Vermintide 2 -- Chaos Wastes. We are also already working on the next career following the positive reception of the Grail Knight... and of course, so much more that we are not ready to announce."
The infestation isn't over. It'll take more than the development of a new cooperative game to kill it off.
A Letter to the Vermintide Community [Steam]
Destroy All Humans is the kind of game that's a perfect subject for getting the remake treatment. Originally released in 2005 by the now-defunct Pandemic Studios (I'll never forget the controversy around The Saboteur's launch DLC that enabled nudity), Destroy All Humans is spirited but doesn't hold up to modern gameplay conventions. Go watch some YouTube videos. It hasn't aged gracefully.
Developer Black Forest Games has tackled a beat-by-beat remake 15 years later. It's extremely competent, and every bit as lively and spunky as the original. This just feels like a franchise that means a lot to some people. Still, we're left wishing more creative liberty had been taken.
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In a game about collecting little critters through dance battle prowess and agriculture, you find yourself overrun with Ooblets awfully quick. Not a problem! They're adorable and only a monster wouldn't want an endless flock of these little followbabies.
Actually, it is a problem. Ooblets has a cap on the number of creatures you can tend to at once. In the early game, it never comes up. You just keep harvesting new Ooblets because you figure more is better. Some can stay home and tend to the crops, others will defend your honor through dance.
Later, once you have access to new Ooblets that you want to try out (and scan for the databasing sidequest), you'll inevitably be hit with a mess
Wed Jul 29 12:30:00 EDT 2020
Super Mario Party felt like a missed opportunity to anyone who hoped for even a smidgen of DLC, and I can't shake the feeling that my beloved Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics will probably have a similar fate. Outside of a launch-day update in early June, we haven't seen any movement.
I briefly got my hopes up this week when an update – version 1.1.2 – started downloading. I should've known better. It's not a precursor to new games, and it doesn't add any quality-of-life features that folks have been asking for like expanded local multiplayer support for groups and Pro Controllers.
Instead, the July 28 update mainly deals with bug fixes (in Ludo, Mahjong, Renegade, and Texas Hold'em, among others) and strives to improve the "stability of synchronous communication when playing online." The latter point is noteworthy, though – online play can be super shaky. It needs work.
The update also "raised the maximum Play Count for each game from 99 to 999." I've definitely played more than a hundred rounds of Renegade in a misguided attempt to beat the Impossible AI. Stop me.
I'd gladly pay for more Clubhouse, but if it never materializes, I'll still pop back in from time to time.
How to Update Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics [Nintendo]
Me, to anyone who tries to silence my off-key wailings that pitifully approximate Freddie Mercury's cherubic voice: Don't stop me now.
There's a Queen-themed Let's Sing game headed to consoles this fall. Let's Sing Queen is a collection of 30 classic Queen songs assembled together for your at-home karaoke needs. Like other Let's Sing games, this edition supports USB mics but most people will find it most convenient to sing through their phones via a dedicated Let's Sing app.
The full track list hasn't been revealed, but here's what has been called out in the press release and shown via screenshots:
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The next Sea of Thieves update belongs on the cover of the cheesiest '80s metal album. Get ready to melt some faces -- not through the sickest of guitar riffs but through actual hot hot heat.
The Ashen Winds update is live and it introduces a new enemy type called the Ashen Lords. They're a fiery bunch -- literally. Their presence is marked by a firenado. They're capable of turning their faces into flamethrowers. They summon meteor storms. Thematically, you get the idea.
There's a badass payoff for dealing with the sweaty temperature change. Ashen Lords will drop the Ashen Winds skull which is straight-up a skull the spits fire. It's a great way stop another buccaneer dead in their tracks. It's an even better way of setting another crew's all-wood ship aflame. Wood, as I understand it, is extremely flammable.
It's not a permanent accessory, though. They burn hot and flame out quick. The Order of Souls will buy skulls from you, but they're willing to pay a lot less if you've used up all the firepower. An empty propane tank is a worthless propane tank.
Here are the full patch notes for the Sea of Thieves Ashen Winds update.
Publisher Microids has announced a remastered edition of action-adventure title Asterix & Obelix XXL, adapted from René Goscinny's classic French comic. The remaster, or "romaster" is in development at Osome Studio for PC and consoles.
Originally released in 2003 on PS2, Asterix and Obelix XXL sees the Gaulish warriors defend their village from the might of The Roman Empire, exploring the environment, solving puzzles, and uppercutting Roman soldiers into the sun. Asterix & Obelix XXL would eventually be ported to PC and GameCube, and was followed by two sequels in later years.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered will feature overhauled visuals, reworked animations, new game modes, an improved camera and control system, as well as the option to switch to the classic aesthetics if you want to relive that early '00s lifestyle. Microids is yet to offer video of the game in action, but has noted an October 22 launch date, so shine your knuckles.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered launches October 22 on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Asterix & Obelix XXL Romastered announced [Gematsu]
NetherRealm Studios has finally revealed the first of its promised DLC skin packs, which will be winging their way to owners of Mortal Kombat 11 expansion pack Aftermath.
The Summer Heat Skin Pack - launching August 6 - includes a barbecue outfit for Baraka, which outfits the Tarkatan warlord in a chef's hat, apron, and a link of sausages. Also bundled is a lovely summer outfit for Kitana, which features an ornate robe, mask and hat, and a gaudy Stars and Stripes suit for gunslinger Erron Black. In addition, a new skin for Johnny Cage, which outfits the superstar in an all-gold ensemble, is available right now.
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I'm at the point with Marvel's Avengers where no amount of footage or new info – not even the introduction of Hawkeye as the first free post-launch hero – will raise or lower my interest in the game. I kind of just need to play it, get a feel for the combat and character variety, and go from there.
That said, today's War Table stream was our most convincing look yet at Avengers.
Crystal Dynamics shared an overview of next month's beta, and it sounds surprisingly generous. There's a lot of content – enough that it took a nearly 10-minute recap video to cover every beat. In short, the Avengers beta will have "20 co-op/single-player missions" and "four heroes that give a sample of customizations, outfits, and upgrades." They are: Iron Man, Hulk, Kamala, and Black Widow.
Some of these beta missions are story-centric – including the now-beat-into-the-ground Golden Gate Bridge sequence, and a trip to the Pacific Northwest to find JARVIS and fight Abomination – and others are essentially gear-grinding challenge rooms. My favorite bit? The idea of rolling into War Zone missions with a squad of decked-out AI-controlled characters rather than teaming up with players.
As for beta progression, characters have access to their "starting Skill page," unlocks will carry from one beta session to the next, and you'll be able to rank up to Hero Level 15 and Power Level 45.
The important beta dates:
August 7 – PlayStation Advantage Pre-order Beta: As part of our PlayStation Advantage, those of you who have pre-ordered Marvel's Avengers will be the first in the world to get your hands on Earth's Mightiest Heroes the weekend of August 7-9. Pre-load: August 6.I'm convinced that a bunch of Marvel fans are going to show up for this game and have a good enough time with it at launch, but as far as timely, robust, sustainable long-term content updates? That's where things can get dicey even with the best intentions. This isn't our first live-service-game rodeo.
August 14 – Open Beta: The second Beta weekend will be open to the entire PS4 community as part of our PlayStation Advantage partnership. [As well as Xbox One and PC pre-order players.] Pre-load: August 13.
August 21 – Open Beta: Same as the above – our final weekend is also an Open Beta for all PlayStation players [and all Xbox One and PC players]. Pre-load: August 20.
Worth noting: "the 'Reassemble' campaign follows Kamala Khan reuniting the Avengers and taking on the current AIM threat led by MODOK. Following that, players will enter the ever-present Avengers Initiative. Through the renovated helicarrier, you'll expand your team to protect Earth from an array of threats, and in doing so, gain access to new heroes, new missions, and new regions [post-launch]."
We'll have a much better grasp of Marvel's Avengers once the beta rolls out, that's for sure.
Marvel's Avengers War Table brings Beta breakdown & Hawkeye reveal [PlayStation Blog]
Most people figured it's just a matter of time until Microsoft acquires Moon Studios and adds it to the ever-growing stable of Xbox developers. Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are two of the best Xbox-published games this console generation, making Moon Studios a prime candidate to join the fold permanently. Not so fast.
Take-Two Interactive-owned publishing label Private Division has announced that it signed Moon Studios to a publishing agreement. The extent of the deal wasn't disclosed, but it presumably involves at least one new game. As Metro points out, Microsoft owns the Ori property which means that Moon will probably have to stray from its beloved woodlands critter if this game is multi-platform.
Private Division's wheeling and dealing isn't confined to one team. It's also publishing OlliOlli developer Roll7's next game. Roll7 had a three-game stretch where Devolver published its stuff, followed by a one-off with 505 Games for Laser League. Also lumped into the announcement is League of Geeks who is most well-known for the board game Armello, which was adapted into a video game a few years ago. Private Division is also publishing League of Geeks' next video game.
Private Division Teams up with Moon Studios, League of Geeks, and Roll7 on Upcoming New Games [Private Division]
Some of the Japanese fighting game publishers attending this weekend's "Roundtable discussion live stream" have teased that they will be bringing new announcements regarding their respective fighters.
Bandai Namco has announced that it will have new news regarding both Tekken 7 and Soulcalibur VI, while Arc System Works has stated its intention to premier a new character trailer for Guilty Gear Strive. Given the cancellation of EVO earlier this year, it would figure that these publishers had reveals scheduled for the annual fighting game tournament. Capcom will also be holding its own live stream on August 5 to discuss the future of its premier scrapper, Street Fighter V.
Capcom, ArcSys, and Bandai Namco will also be joined on Saturday's roundtable stream by Arika, SNK, and Koei Tecmo. It has been one of the most difficult years in living memory for the fighting game genre. It will be interesting to see what steps are taken by both the community and the industry itself to restore confidence, excitement, and - most importantly - safety within the competitive scene.
The Japan Fighting Game Publisher Roundtable takes place August 1.
Let's take a trip down Lucky's Tale lane, as the history of this franchise is a bit confusing at this point.
Back in 2016, Playful partnered with Oculus Studios to release the inaugural Lucky game on the Oculus Rift; a VR platformer featuring the titular fox. From there Playful pivoted out of VR and into the "regular" gaming sphere with Super Lucky's Tale, a sequel released in late 2017 on PC and Xbox One.
Following that Microsoft partnership Playful pivoted once again to Nintendo with the Switch exclusive New Super Lucky's Tale (described as an "expanded version" of the game), which ended up becoming not-so-exclusive. Yep, Playful is bringing New Super Lucky's Tale to PS4 and Xbox One on August 21.
Having played them all, I can say that although you shouldn't rush out to get them day one, they deserve to be part of the overall platforming conversation. It's wonderful to see mascot platformers still alive and well today, and if Lucky made his mark on an older platform like the Nintendo 64 or the PlayStation, he'd probably still be around.
Playful [Twitter]
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has destroyed its crowdfunding target, amassing over $2M USD - from an initial goal of $500K - in a little over 48 hours. Development will now go ahead on the retro-styled RPG, with an estimated release date of October 2022.
As we reported earlier this week, Eiyuden Chronicle is 2.5D JRPG that is designed to be an authentic throwback to the dormant-but-beloved Suikoden series, similar in concept to what Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is to the Castlevania. Set in the fantasy realm of Allran, players will become entwined in a bitter war between neighbouring nations, as the burgeoning Galdean Empire seeks to increase its power and command of Allran.
Eiyuden Chronicle will feature real-time exploration and turn-based battles, as players recruit friends and allies from a huge list of 100 original characters. When not out exploring the land, players must also renovate and galvanise their town, providing homes, improving local businesses and the economy, while protecting its people against those who would do them harm. Heading up the project are several key members of the original Suikoden team, including artist Junko Kawano and original creator Yoshitaka Murayama.
It all sounds very cool, and thanks to this hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, it looks set to get cooler still. As the fund grows and stretch goals are smashed, several new modes and mini-games have already been confirmed for the final release. It's worth keeping an eye on this one, adventure fans, it could be something very special indeed.
Eiyuden Chronicle is tentatively expected to launch on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and "Nintendo's next generation console" in October 2022.
So what you will about the depth of Smash Ultimate's weekly spirit events, but man the team has come up with some really fun themes: not to mention the fact that they've kept them alive for this long! Smash Ultimate turns two in roughly four months!
Take this new event for instance: Cool summer, blue spirits. Whoever designed this promotional image needs a raise! As usual it'll be held over three days, starting on Friday. The official Smash Bros. Twitter account explains that the spirit board will host "a lot of blue spirits," and you'll "net more gold than usual" playing through them.
Can I just say how wild it is that Sonic Adventure's Chaos is technically in the same game as Capcom's Hard Man? Or Enguarde the Swordfish from Donkey Kong Country is crossing paths with Wonder Blue from Wonderful 101? Smash Bros.' openness to these types of partnerships and Nintendo's seemingly endless address book are truly is amazing.
Smash Bros JP [Twitter]
Good news for fans of FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Activision has announced that the ninja-tastic adventure has raked in five million global sales since its launch in March 2019. Not only that, but Sekiro is to receive a free update in October, which will implement a selection of exciting new modes and features.
Launching on October 29, the "Additional Features Update" will add boss rush modes Reflection of Strength and Gauntlet of Strength, allowing savvy shinobi the chance to replay any previously completed boss battle, or take on a run of bosses in a rock-solid single-life challenge.
Meanwhile, the new "Remnants" feature will let players record snippets of their greatest in-game moments, uploading them with brief messages for the whole community to see - whether an expertly performed takedown or the agile discovery of a secret hiding area. If a player watches and rates a remnant while the uploader is in-game, then the uploader will receive a small HP boost in real-time.
Finally, three new outfits will be made available in Wolf's wardrobe. Players will unlock two of the outfits via the new gauntlet modes, while the third is unlocked by beating the campaign. Make sure you're looking dapper while you're running rooftops and jumping treetops.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Last week's announcement of Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy was good news for fans of cute RPGs with crap-loads of crafting. Following its debut in the Japanese Nintendo Mini Direct, Koei Tecmo promised fans outside of Japan a special reveal of the game that took place this morning. Not only did we get a new trailer showing off some of the locations we'll be exploring, but we also got a confirmation of a winter release in the west and the introduction of the new character Fi.
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The time has finally come for Phantasy Star Online 2 to be free of the Windows launcher and arrive on Steam. When that day arrives (August 5, by the way!), it'll bear some gifts for Steam users.
According to the official PSO2 blog, Sega is rolling out rewards for folks who log in on Steam. All you have to do is log into the game near the release date to grab the Headcrab Emote from Half-Life, as well as a number of booster items. If you finish any quest once on normal or casual difficulty (or higher), you'll get the Pyro's gas mask from Team Fortress 2, as well as the Alyx hairstyle from Half-Life Alyx.
For finishing any quest on hard/hardcore difficulty, you'll get a Wheatley evolution device, as well as a Left 4 Dead frying pan, a Team Fortress 2 minigun and a Half-Life crowbar. Continuing on (haha, this list is actually pretty great), for completing any quest on very hard difficulty or higher, you'll get a Half-Life HEV suit, and completing any quest for times on super hard difficulty will net you an Alyx replica outfit from Half-Life Alyx. Phew!
As a reminder, the game is cross-play and will offer cross-progress with the Steam edition. So you really have nothing to lose if you want to go for broke and grab these items: just know that in typical PSO2 fashion, they'll be "distributed at a later date." Good luck!
PSO2: Steam Launch Rewards [Sega]
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Tomorrow, Nintendo's mobile battler Fire Emblem Heroes will get metal-as-fuck with the arrival of a brand new Legendary Hero. Hel: Death Sovereign will be added to the mix of heroes and villains, bringing with her a particularly morbid, end-of-days skill set.
Hel is the main antagonist of Fire Emblem Heroes Book III and her dark powers will now be in your hands. Ruler of The Land of The Dead, Hel is a terrifying apparition, equipped with a legion of departed souls, '80s metal corpse paint, and an unnervingly gleeful disposition. Her power now available in the hands of the players should make for an interesting departure from FeH's typical sword-and-sorcery combat.
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[Update: Nintendo of America has confirmed that the promo will run in the west. The exact US times are July 29 through August 4 at 11:59PM PT.]
[Update #2: The promotion is live today! You can download Pokken Tournament DX here and play it until the above time.]
Once again, Japan gets to reap an extra benefit of regional Switch Online: free game sessions.
Not to be confused with "free-to-play," where a game is fully free and monetized as such, Pokken Tournament DX will be free to try out for Switch Online subscribers from July 27 through August 2. Translation? It's like Steam's "free weekend" promos.
Basically from those dates on, you'll be able to download the entire game and play it for free, so long as you meet those aforementioned regional and subscription requirements. It's a very cool perk of Switch Online that the west doesn't really get to partake in often: hint hint, Nintendo, start making Switch Online a little more enticing, please.
While local LAN parties aren't necessarily all the rage right now, this is a great opportunity to hang out with the family and let loose with a very chill and fun fighter. I even have the wonky controller for it ready to go sometimes!
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[Update: The fourth Destructoid AMA session is now live! So take a minute to stop by our official forums and take the rare opportunity to Ask Your Anything to Destructoid Co-EIC and Reviews Director Chris Carter. Have Fun!]
Yup! You heard that right. Starting this month, we’ll be hosting a series of AMAs (ask me anything) with members of Destructoid and our sister sites on the new and improved Destructoid forums.
If you've never been to one of these, the way it typically works is that the host commits to an hour to thoughtfully answer questions as they are submitted in semi-real time. You can come on the event day to participate, or enjoy the responses any time after. It's a great way to connect with the people that run this joint.
Here's the full schedule so far:
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Back in June, we hosted our first ever So You Think You Can Stream contest, sponsored by G-Fuel and Luminosity . We got to see a lot of talented individuals, and a couple of impeccably sexy faces from the Destructoid community, compete to win $5,000. Not only was it a huge success, but it was also just a genuinely fun time for a lot of the folks involved.
Well, as soon as that contest drew to a close, we decided that we should make an even bigger and better one happen in the very near future. Starting on August 2, that contest will be underway, and we hope to see as many folks from the Destructoid community check it out!
After listening to a lot of audience and streamer feedback, we’ve decided to make a few changes to the format for our second contest.
During the initial So You Think You Can Stream contest, entrants had twenty minutes to demonstrate their talents as Twitch streamers to the Destructoid community and Dreezy, one of our two resident streamers. They were then ranked both on skill and style points – essentially, how good they were at the game, and how entertaining they were.
From there, the top three, and a personality voted for by the community, battled it out for that top spot.
Here’s a few of the changes that we’ve made for our second contest:
First off, we’re cutting out the skill points category for voting. Folks will now be ranked entirely on how stylish they are. What counts as stylish, you might be asking? That’s simple! It’s a measure of how entertaining you are. Are you adept at coming up with amusing puns on the spot? Do you have a kickass lighting setup? Are you just downright fun to chat to? These could all count towards those sweet, sweet style points.
Then there’s a couple of changes to the tournament structure, itself.
For the first round in this tournament, entrants will have ten minutes to impress us (and Dreezy) with their personalities while they play any game of their choosing. Heck, even Old School RuneScape would be valid here. The one caveat is that the game must be appropriate to stream on Twitch. Apologies to anyone who wanted to stream Nekopara, but this means that you'll need to uninstall that 18+ patch.
During the second round, there’ll be three judges selected by Destructoid instead of just Dreezy. Only the top twelve contestants from round one will move over to this stage of the competition.
During both of these rounds, community members will still be able to vote alongside Dreezy and the other judges and, like the initial tournament, results will be pooled to determine who moves on to the next round.
Community picks, too, will still be totally in effect. And neither Dreezy nor any other non-audience judge will be able to impact who moves on to that final round.
Oh, and I guess there is the most obvious change: the prize is now $10,000 instead of $5,000.
Alongside this wonderful cash prize, the winner will be fast-tracked the top 32 during Luminosity Gaming’s upcoming Rising Stars tournament, where they can battle it out to win $100,000 and a one year contract with these esports titans! This opportunity would have been offered as a prize to the winner of our previous So You Think You Can Stream contest, RockyNoHands, but his performance was just so impressive that he was signed up with the organisation pretty much immediately.
We’d love to see as many of our beloved Destructoid community members sign up to this tournament as possible, so check out the sign-up sheet and hopefully we can throw our Dollarydoos at you. Either way, feel free to head on over to our Twitch channel at 8:30PM EST starting on August 2 to watch all of the action!
One of the key elements that goes into making a classic Tony Hawk title is a great, memorable soundtrack. And while Activision's upcoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 will feature most of (but not all) of the classic hits from the original PlayStation releases, the new OST will also be expanded with the addition of 37 new songs.
A gamut of genres will be featured in the remaster, with heavy leanings toward the skate-friendly ska-punk sound. Names even Old Man Moyse recognises like Reel Big Fish, Sublime, The Ataris and A Tribe Called Quest will be joined by the likes of DZ Deathrays, Chick Norris and - checks notes - Viagra Boys. Back in my day, etc.
You can check out a select cut of the complete soundtrack right here on Spotify. I mean, we're all just going to be playing "Superman" by Goldfinger on a loop anyway, right?
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 launches September 4 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Games Store.
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In today's contest we're giving away Switch and Steam copies of Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break!
Who likes quirky mixes of tower defense, level building, mass destruction, and Monty Python-styled humor? *checks hands*
Ok! Well come win a Switch or Steam copy of Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break, featuring everything listed above and more.
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As we approach the Thursday release date for Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On, Bandai Namco has released a new trailer for the game. The focus of the trailer is the new Maxi Boost Mission mode, which is the other half of the game's offline offerings. So to finally have some information about this is a blessing for many.
You can check out the trailer and its long-awaited details below.
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The PlayStation 5 will seemingly have a dedicated function for getting the player directly into specific parts of a game. It's a feature called "Activities" and we're first learning about it via a media preview leak.
Recently, European outlet Gamereactor previewed racing game WRC 9 which will launch on both current- and next-gen consoles. In the presentation (which was presumably done remotely and controlled by the developer and/or publisher), the Activities function was demonstrated and described as "an instant deeplink to specific races directly from the [PS5's] menu."
Gamereactor has pulled its preview of WRC 9. However, Gematsu captured it and posted the relevant bit to Twitter:
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PlayStation 4 is getting an absolute gem of an indie game today. Nearly three years after launch, Cuphead is coming to PS4. That's not the end of the surprises.
Studio MDHR is working on a treat for Cuphead's earliest adopters. The Xbox version is getting free special update that includes a digital art gallery, behind-the-scenes commentary, and a playable soundtrack. It's like the bonus features disc in a DVD box set.
The special update isn't imminent. The developer says it's in "the early planning stages." Also, Studio MDHR is probably prioritizing work on the Delicious Last Course add-on moreso than a free update. But, whenever it arrives, it'll be a nice little touch and a tip of the hat to the platform that most heavily promoted Cuphead.
Surprise!! Cuphead is Coming to PlayStation 4...And It's Out Today! [Studio MDHR]
Kingdom and Kingdom: New Lands developer Noio is onto something special with Cloud Gardens, a relaxing simulation game about planting seeds so nature can overtake "lo-fi scenes of urban decay."
I was on board with that one-sentence pitch, but Cloud Gardens goes deeper – there's a bit of motivational structure for players who don't just want to creatively unwind. Outside of a care-free sandbox mode, there are six "campaign"-like chapters "where the task is to strike a balance between nature and the manufactured by covering each scene with salvaged objects and lush vegetation."
"As you overgrow the objects, a meter fills to show your progress," says Noio. "You are given objects to expand the scene. These objects contribute energy to the growing of plants, but you will also have to cover them in foliage to complete the stage, striking a balance between nature and the manufactured."
It's beautiful and thoughtful and I badly want to play it. I appreciate that there's more substance to the game than just dropping seeds and watching them take root (which would've been fine). Even without that concept, I'd still want to mess around with these dioramas. The low-poly look is enticing.
Cloud Gardens will be on Steam Early Access for "about three months" and it's launching "soon." If you're captivated by this sort of soothing game design, you should also look into Townscaper.
A girl with fungus growing out of her face?
Let's hope she doesn't come across Ellie or Joel.
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Maximum Games has announced that it will publish a physical release of nWay's tag-fighter Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. A "Collector's Edition" will launch on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on October 8, priced at around $30.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid Collector's Edition will feature the base title updated with its single-player story mode and balance tweaks. This edition also comes bundled with Power Rangers Super Samurai character Lauren Shiba. It should be made clear that this is not a "GOTY" style edition and - while it does feature a 16-strong roster - it does not contain all DLC characters released to date.
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DrinkBox Studios hasn't made a bad game yet. I'm starting to think it never will.
The makers of Guacamelee, Severed, and Mutant Blobs Attack have begun teasing their next project, and given that history, it could be a sequel, a new property, or anything, really, and I'd be stoked.
The zoomed-in gif appears to show blinking eyes – or maybe that's just what they want us to think.
I'm convinced we'll get another Guacamelee one day – it's such a distinct world that's worth exploring even further – but I'm ready to see this team branch out if something else sparked their interest.
@DrinkBoxStudios [Twitter]
This past weekend McFarlane Toys - the merch manufacturer owned by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane - announced that it had secured the rights to produce a run of action figures based on popular fantasy RPG franchise The Witcher.
While the company had nothing specifically to reveal in terms of designs or prototypes, it was revealed that the first run of figures will be based specifically on characters featured in 2015 release The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and are optimistically expected to release in the fall of this year.
McFarlane Toys are renowned for their great sculpts and complex, intricate detailing, so Witcher fans should definitely keep an eye out for this new range of bookshelf-fillers. Geralt is a given, but I'm looking forward to seeing figures for Yennefer, Ciri, and hopefully the wooden tub playset.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
McFarlane Toys nabs the rights to make Witcher figures [Superhero Hype]
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Xbox Game Pass is an excellent subscription service that offers one of the best (if not the best) values in gaming. Xbox Games with Gold, on the other hand, has been on a steady decline over the past several months.
That trend doesn't change in August, as there's no clear-cut headliner out of the bunch. On Xbox One, it's Minecraft-like Portal Knights and fighter Override: Mech City Brawl. There's a double dose of original Xbox nostalgia for the backward compatibility games as 2004's MX Unleashed and 2002's Red Faction II round out the month.
Is there a correlation between Game Pass' ascent and Games with Gold's descent? Is Game Pass' ever-expanding library snuffing out candidates for future Games with Gold freebies? The business side of it all is obviously confidential and unclear. But one thing is increasingly apparent: Games with Gold is routinely underwhelming while Game Pass becomes more and more of an essential service.
Here's the full Xbox Games with Gold breakdown for August:
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Square Enix has announced that the Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack will see its official release on November 11, offering up majestic and dramatic scores taken from the epic RPG sequel as well as a selection of recent Kingdom Hearts side-titles.
The soundtrack will feature the music of Kingdom Hearts III, Kingdom Hearts III ReMIND, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, and finally Kingdom Hearts Union Cross. While the full tracklist is yet to be revealed, the set will include somewhere in the region of 160 tracks taken from across the five titles.
The physical edition will consist of eight discs and will retail for ¥13,200, or roughly $125 USD. Pre-orders are open now at a variety of Japanese outlets including Tower Records, Amazon Japan, Sony Music Shop and Square's own digital store. While the digital release has been described as "worldwide", seemingly no western retail store is offering pre-orders on the physical edition, so fans might have to bite the bullet on an import.
Kingdom Hearts III is available now on PS4 and Xbox One.
Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack set to release worldwide [KH13 for Kingdom Hearts]
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Capcom has announced that it will be holding a special live stream next week dedicated to the future of its flagship fighting title Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.
Available for streaming on the Capcom Fighters YouTube and Twitch channels, the "Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Summer Update" hosts and special guests will deliver news about Street Fighter and its competitive scene, while also revealing brand new characters headed your way in Season V.
As you may recall, Street Fighter V was planning to enter its home straight after Season IV, but the one-on-one fighter's ongoing success has encouraged Capcom to deliver one more batch of fresh content. Be sure to tune in, August 5 at 10:00 PT / 13:00 ET / 18:00 BST, and see what awaits in the twilight period of one of Street Fighter's most tumultuous entries.
Street Fighter V is available now on PS4 and PC.
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We've seen several entities use Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a new way to spread information or teach folks: but now the Tokyo fire department is joining in on the fun.
Revealed last week, the official Tokyo fire department Twitter account has noted that the staff will be "relocated" to a digital island, where they'll "transmit" information to folks on how to stay safe and prevent disasters. As a kid, I would have went wild for these kinds of gimmicks revolving around games.
More recently the account made its first post, giving out tips on how to prevent a heat stroke (frequent hydration, wear a hat, use an air conditioner) and stop drowning incidents (watch your kids, don't swim after drinking, pay attention to inclement weather). The accompanying New Horizons image shows a fire department member's avatar sitting near a fan to beat the heat.
It's the exact wholesome content we need right now!
Tokyo Fire Department [Twitter] Thanks John!
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[Update: Sega has confirmed that PSO2 will arrive on Steam on August 5, which will allow you to link your existing account and cross-play with Windows/Xbox One users. On that same day, Episode 4 (a huge content update) will arrive on both PC and Xbox One. You can watch the trailer for that below.]
Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally out in the west...but it might not be on your choice of platform.
It hit the Xbox One this past April, with a PC release following in May. The thing is, that PC edition didn't launch so swimmingly, most notably due to some issues with the Windows 10 launcher. While Sega has patched up some of those problems the experience isn't silky smooth just yet: though Steam might be an option soon.
Wait, Steam?! Yes, it looks like Microsoft doesn't have a Gollum-hold on the game for the foreseeable future, as a new listing for Phantasy Star Online 2 just popped up on Steam today. According to the page it'll be out on August 5, which is much sooner than a lot of us probably anticipated. Yay for options!
This bodes well for the upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis project, which is also confirmed for PC on top of the Xbox family of consoles. While everyone feared that this entire western PSO2 umbrella would be forced into Windows 10, Steam is back on the menu.
Phantasy Star Online 2 [Steam] Thanks Ravenclaw!
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Here's the TL;DR on this one upfront because the one-sentence summary is so ridiculous that it deserves to be front and center: Ubisoft hired Dragon Age's creative director to make a new fantasy game, and then canceled it because an executive didn't like fantasy games.
In a report from Bloomberg, we learn that Ubisoft had a King Arthur-themed project in the works at Ubisoft Quebec which was the lead development studio on Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Ubisoft had hired Mike Laidlaw from BioWare to head up the project; Laidlaw has cachet to his name, as he was credited as lead designer on Dragon Age and its sequel before serving as creative director on Dragon Age: Inquisition. Internally, the game was codenamed "Avalon."
Ubisoft was gunning for an interesting market with Avalon. It was structured as a cooperative multiplayer action RPG akin to Monster Hunter. It's easy to imagine how Assassin's Creed Odyssey's core combat infrastructure could be adapted and expanded into something that fits the Monster Hunter mold.
However, it was all for naught. Laidlaw left Ubisoft in early 2019 and the project was canceled shortly thereafter. Reportedly, Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoët hated the fantasy setting and had ridiculous mandates that it be "better than Tolkien." Suddenly, this Round Table fable "full of knights and legends" had to pump the brakes to appease one executive. The development team tried shifting to a new setting to no avail.
Hascoët is now gone from Ubisoft. He was one of the high-profile departures earlier this month in the wake of Ubisoft's outing as a company that habitually hid and protected sexual abuse and harassment, and facilitated a toxic and misogynistic workplace. Stubbornly bodying this game into being canned is a far cry from Hascoët's worst crime. But, it seems like he had rigid expectations of what defined a Ubisoft title (as evidence by the similar-seeming glut of games under his reign) and he was unwilling to be flexible on that front. We can only wonder "what if" in hindsight.
Ubisoft's Planned King Arthur Game Was Nixed by Ex-Creative Head [Bloomberg]
Slowly but surely, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is adding in the features fans fell for in previous entries of the franchise. A few weeks ago, swimming and deep-sea diving were added in the first of two promised summer updates. Only July 30, the second update will drop, adding weekly fireworks shows to your island and the ability to visit distant lands when you sleep.
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As we shared back at the start of June, Twitch Prime is partnering with SNK to give Prime members free stuff.
Seven games (mostly fighters) were dumped on the service last month, but now Twitch is ready to deliver seven more as of today. Those games are Metal Slug 2, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Baseball Stars 2, Sengoku 3, Ironclad and King of the Monsters. This time around SNK is going hard with beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups.
It's kind of a trick though: in a good way! One of those seven games (SNK 40th Anniversary Collection) is actually a bundle of 24 other games: sneaky! That one includes titles such as Beat Busters, Baseball Stars and Ozma Wars.
You can find the full list below for the second collection, as well as the first run, which is still live on Twitch Prime. As a reminder, you can claim them here.
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Hollywood superstar Brie Larson has once again expressed her desire to don the famous power armour of Samus Aran, should Nintendo ever see fit to producing a movie based on beloved sci-fi franchise Metroid.
The Captain Marvel star reiterated her hopes of playing the legendary bounty hunter in a recent interview on Gary Whitta's quirky Animal Talking show, where the host interviews stars within a virtual Animal Crossing-style TV studio. When asked about the potential role, Larson enthusiastically responded.
"I would love that so much," said Larson. "I was Samus for Halloween two years ago… It was literally a $20 costume I bought off of Amazon... I was so excited about it, and so I posted a picture of it on Instagram of me and the costume and it turned into this thing of people being like 'woah!' [Samus] was always my character that I played in Super Smash Bros. and I just loved her. So that whole thing started and I’ve definitely not put a squash to that story and I definitely want to make that movie... So, Nintendo, once again, I would love to do it!"
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[Update: Today on Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest stream, Studio MDHR's Maja Moldenhauer confirmed that Cuphead will hit PS4 today. The Delicious Last Course DLC will eventually launch on "all platforms day one." You can read more about Cuphead's PS4 release on the PlayStation Blog.]
"Leak" might be an especially-fitting term when discussing a game about cups that are full of liquid. Or, maybe that's overthinking it and we should just relish an incredible indie game finally arriving on its final major platform.
An international PlayStation Store listing has popped up that outs a PS4 port of Cuphead. Coupled with that -- err, "cuppled?" -- is a tease from Geoff Keighley that promotes "a special update from one of our favorite indie game studios."
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It's almost like I felt a wave of collective "oh nos" this morning as everyone on the internet rushed to check their PSPs.
As pointed out by IT Media, cases of PSP owners reporting that their cases are bursting open due to battery expansion has been surging these past few weeks. I went and checked mine right away (a slim and a regular): you'll note the 3.6v 1200mAh battery on the former and the 3.6v 1800mAh on the latter (which is a snug fit). Take a gander at the pictures linked in the previous passage in case you need help locating your battery. Here is a picture of a battery gone horribly wrong.
Now, this is not out of sorts for lithium-based batteries. I've experienced this before with legacy phones and wireless headsets. But it's a good reminder nonetheless to check your stash and make sure everything is good to go. Sony has provided a statement to IT Media, noting that people should "refrain from using [the system] when the battery has experienced swelling," and to not game with the battery cover off. Ensure that you dispose of it properly.
Sony should bring back Marcus to do PSA videos for battery safety.
PSP [IT Media via Kotaku]
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How does Sony sell people on one of the most wildly successful PlayStation exclusives featuring one of the most wildly famous and iconic comic book heroes? By confusing them! Very thematic! Just like Mysterio.
We already suffered from mixed messaging when Sony appeared to debut Spider-Man: Miles Morales as a full sequel; then had to very quickly walk everything back. Now, it seems as if they may have undersold the game out of the gate. According to a writeup in Game Informer magazine (as spotted by Reddit member 77good123), Miles Morales will include a "remastered version of Insomniac's Spider-Man [PS4] that takes full advantage of the PS5 hardware." Record scratch: whaaaaat.
While a lot of people assumed this was coming (Sony touted a Spider-Man remaster as one of the first PS5 tech demos), it's strange that this wouldn't be the upfront message right inside of the showcase it was presented in. Insomniac has clarified that Miles Morales is a standalone game, but that doesn't prevent it from being bundled with a separate remaster.
We've reached out to Sony for clarification on the matter, because anything is possible with this game. At this point we are treating it as a rumor.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales [Game Informer via Reddit]
Back in June, Niantic CEO John Hanke announced that his company would be donating $5m USD in revenue to support a range of black gaming initiatives, projects and communities. However, Pokémon GO Fest 2020 - held on Niantic's AR title this past weekend - proved such a huge success that the company will now double its donation to $10m.
Pokémon GO Fest usually sees players from around the world gather together for a physical weekend of fun and critter-hunting, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the annual event to go all-digital this year. However, as reported by Eurogamer, this did not discourage would-be trainers, as "millions" of players from over 120 countries spent an astounding $25 million in-game during the weekend of July 24-26. These numbers boost Pokémon GO's yearly revenue to around $540m, with its global lifetime revenue reaching $3.7bn.
While Niantic is yet to state specifically how the $10m donation is to be divided, it had previously said that half of the money would go toward funding black gaming projects and creators that can live on the Niantic platform, while the remaining half would be spent on supporting local black communities and businesses. In addition, Niantic has made a donation to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, an organisation dedicated to protecting and defending the rights of black trans people. Niantic is also in the process of creating a new training programme to better educate its employees in combating systemic racism.
"It is up to non-Black allies to educate ourselves and each other," said Hanke back in June. "We hope this diversity and inclusion training can help provide the tools and resources to make us all better allies... Lastly, we will take a public stand in support of the Black community and reject white supremacy, racism, and police brutality."
Pokémon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.
Pokemon GO creator Niantic doubles Black Lives Matter donation to $10m [Eurogamer]
In today's contest you can win Carrion for Switch or Steam!
Well, this game sure it gross! Carrion hit digital storefronts last week, and like with most Devolver Digital joints, it's a weird one. So wrap your fleshy tentacles around a Switch or Steam copy while you still can!
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Bloober Team's The Medium is serving up scares months before it officially launches. Anyone with an outdated rig is going to find themselves cowering in fear at the sight of these Medium PC requirements.
The Medium is low-key going to be one of the Xbox Series X's technical showcases, as its hook is that it renders two worlds on-screen at the same time. This is probably the reason we're seeing some inflated PC specs. It's a game that asks a lot of the hardware.
Curiously, the official specs don't mandate an SSD (which is a linchpin feature of the next generation of consoles). Instead, it recommends one but it isn't absolutely necessary. The day is coming where we see a next-gen game that requires an SSD. Today isn't that day.
Instead, it seems as if RAM and VRAM do a lot of the heavy lifting. The GPU specs are pretty beefy, especially for anyone who wants to run The Medium with ray tracing on. The RAM requirements hit 16GB at the middle tier of settings, but that's becoming closer and closer to the norm at this point.
Here are the minimum, medium (ha!), and recommended PC specs for The Medium:
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Not even two months after launching, Disintegration is giving away its story mode for free. That is, provided you're willing to dedicate a good chunk of the weekend to beating it.
Disintegration will be free this weekend on all platforms (PC, PS4, Xbox One) without any sort of gates other than your personal freetime. It's the full game, and the free period runs from Thursday, July 30 until Monday, August 3. That's more than enough time to clear the campaign which clocks in somewhere around 10 hours.
That's probably by design. In his review, Chris noted that the campaign was fine enough but that it felt like an "appetizer" for the multiplayer mode. It seems likely that developer V1 Interactive is simply using the campaign to familiarize people with the game, hoping that the multiplayer has hooks to keep them around.
If that tactic works, Disintegration will be 40 percent off on all platforms. If you're left underwhelmed -- hey, at least you got a free, new campaign out of it.
Here's the breakdown of start/stop times by platform:
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In a moment of self-reflection where we all just turn to dust, Blizzard has reminded everyone that today is the 10th anniversary of StarCraft II. There's a beefy 5.0 patch to celebrate the occasion.
Most of the anniversary update has to do with expanding the Galaxy Map Editor – expect lots of nitty-gritty features and better support for custom campaigns – but there are a few other things to bring up. There's a countdown timer in Versus matches once players have loaded in, a Prestige progression system for co-op Commanders to unlock talents, and new Campaign achievements for "all 83 missions."
I'm most excited about the latter – if nothing else, as a predominantly solo-focused RTS player, I adore Blizzard's mission designs. I always had to fight the urge to replay levels as soon as I finished them.
If you manage to earn every 10th anniversary achievement, you'll unlock the Stone announcer in StarCraft II. "These achievements can be earned on any difficulty above Normal. However, they are designed to be scalable and are possible, though extremely challenging, on even Brutal."
If you're not up to that commitment, you'll still get something new for showing up. You can unlock the White-Ra announcer just by logging into the game between July 27 and August 10, 2020.
The team is also planning to run down the "10 greatest games in StarCraft II esports" starting this week.
For many of us, this a chance to think back on the series at large and how amped we were for a StarCraft sequel. Things didn't work out exactly as expected for the story, and the esports scene – to say nothing of Blizzard as a company – has changed so much over the last decade. It's been a wild ride.
StarCraft II 5.0 Patch Notes, StarCraft II is Turning 10 [Blizzard]
The big story of the weekend has been the massive dump of assets and source codes for a decade's worth of Nintendo games. Where some companies are a bit too carefree with how they store their history, Nintendo doesn't appear to throw anything out. We've seen strange early versions of Yoshi, never-before-seen Zelda enemies, and the source codes to some of the greatest games on the SNES just dumped on the internet. It's fascinating, but could leaks like this and the gargantuan The Last of Us: Part II leak from a few months ago have a negative ripple effect for the people who work in and around the gaming industry?
That's just one of the topics discussed on this episode of Podtoid. CJ, Charlotte, and Occams are on hand to talk asset leaks, Ghost of Tsushima, Void Terrarium, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, and our favorite titles from last week's Xbox Games Showcase. All that, plus the idea that games starring women don't sell is bullshit, on Podtoid Episode 452.
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Birthdays. They only come once a year, so obviously you want to do something special to celebrate them. Many of us really want to make an event out of commemorating the date we came into being. Be it a small gathering with a handful of your closest friends, dinner with the family, or drinking far too much at a black metal concert.
Well, maybe that last one is just me.
Either way, we decided to help one of our beloved Twitch streamers, Dreezy, celebrate his birthday in style! On August 1 at 10:30PM, he'll be meeting up with long-time community manager and reviewer of all things Gundam, Mike Sounders (also known as Torchman to many folks on this site) to play the brand new Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme vs Maxiboost On.
Good lord, that title is a mouthful.
They'll be trialing its split-screen multiplayer features at one of Toronto's finest gaming bars, The Hive. Drinks may or may not be involved in the equation. Better yet, the entire event will be streamed live on our official Twitch channel!
Torchman and Dreezy will potentially be accompanied by Enthusiast Gaming (our parent company) CEO, Menashe Kestenbaum, better known as RavMenace to many of our Twitch viewers. Unless, of course, he decides that he has better things to do than to play Gundam with those two.
Will Torchman show up to the occasion wearing a full Turn A cosplay? Will Dreezy be in his birthday suit? The answer to both of these questions is "probably not," but it's sure to be a fun time, regardless.
During last week's Xbox Games Showcase, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 developer Fatshark introduced its new Left 4 Dead-like co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
There were two prevalent schools of thought. On one side, people were excited about a Warhammer zombie shooter, especially given how thick the horde looked in that teaser/debut trailer. On the other, people were left wondering how this is going to affect the ongoing development of Vermintide 2.
Fatshark has spent years dedicated to content updates and larger expansions for Vermintide 2. A major add-on, Chaos Wastes, is already in the pipeline. Will Vermintide 2 be put on the backburner for a next-gen project?
The short and emphatic answer: No. Fatshark addressed these concerns in a letter to the community, and explained that Darktide and Vermintide 2 will be developed simultaneously.
The studio says "We remain committed to Vermintide 2. We are looking forward to the continuous development of Vermintide 2, and the next major DLC update coming is Warhammer: Vermintide 2 -- Chaos Wastes. We are also already working on the next career following the positive reception of the Grail Knight... and of course, so much more that we are not ready to announce."
The infestation isn't over. It'll take more than the development of a new cooperative game to kill it off.
A Letter to the Vermintide Community [Steam]
Destroy All Humans is the kind of game that's a perfect subject for getting the remake treatment. Originally released in 2005 by the now-defunct Pandemic Studios (I'll never forget the controversy around The Saboteur's launch DLC that enabled nudity), Destroy All Humans is spirited but doesn't hold up to modern gameplay conventions. Go watch some YouTube videos. It hasn't aged gracefully.
Developer Black Forest Games has tackled a beat-by-beat remake 15 years later. It's extremely competent, and every bit as lively and spunky as the original. This just feels like a franchise that means a lot to some people. Still, we're left wishing more creative liberty had been taken.
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In a game about collecting little critters through dance battle prowess and agriculture, you find yourself overrun with Ooblets awfully quick. Not a problem! They're adorable and only a monster wouldn't want an endless flock of these little followbabies.
Actually, it is a problem. Ooblets has a cap on the number of creatures you can tend to at once. In the early game, it never comes up. You just keep harvesting new Ooblets because you figure more is better. Some can stay home and tend to the crops, others will defend your honor through dance.
Later, once you have access to new Ooblets that you want to try out (and scan for the databasing sidequest), you'll inevitably be hit with a message telling you that you've hit your limit. The only way to add more Ooblets is to spring for more coops. That's probably not where you want to invest your resources at the moment because coops are prohibitively expensive in the context of Ooblets. They require clothlets and oobsidian, both or which are needed for several of the quests you're likely chipping away at.
The balancing of it all is just kinda off, and that's the point of launching in early access. The solution is to jettison some of those Ooblets far away so that they aren't your problem anymore. Don't worry -- they're going to a loving home where they can run around and dance to their hearts' content.
Ooblets update v0.3.60 will let you send Ooblets to the Wildlands for re-homing with Outgrid. This isn't a new playable area -- those are still in progress -- and there's no way to retrieve Ooblets that you've sent away. It's just a quick and effective method of hatching those new Ooblets without needing to grind for more coops.
This update is live on PC and moving through certification on Xbox. Here are the full patch notes for Ooblets update v0.3.60:
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age telling you that you've hit your limit. The only way to add more Ooblets is to spring for more coops. That's probably not where you want to invest your resources at the moment because coops are prohibitively expensive in the context of Ooblets. They require clothlets and oobsidian, both or which are needed for several of the quests you're likely chipping away at.
The balancing of it all is just kinda off, and that's the point of launching in early access. The solution is to jettison some of those Ooblets far away so that they aren't your problem anymore. Don't worry -- they're going to a loving home where they can run around and dance to their hearts' content.
Ooblets update v0.3.60 will let you send Ooblets to the Wildlands for re-homing with Outgrid. This isn't a new playable area -- those are still in progress -- and there's no way to retrieve Ooblets that you've sent away. It's just a quick and effective method of hatching those new Ooblets without needing to grind for more coops.
This update is live on PC and moving through certification on Xbox. Here are the full patch notes for Ooblets update v0.3.60:
Read more...