After a big beta, Mortal Shell is releasing on August 18
The heavily Souls-inspired Mortal Shell will be here sooner than I thought. After a successful PC beta that saw 350,000 downloads "in one week," the grim action-RPG is set for an August 18 release.
How much that initial interest will translate to the final game remains to be seen, but the price is right. Mortal Shell is a modest $30 on PS4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store. (Steam has to wait a year.)
This release date trailer is straight to the point: the world is foreboding, opaque, and violent, so you better have a plan of attack. There's a snippet from four armored shells (think swappable classes) and a ridiculous bolt-firing weapon called the Ballistazooka, which can pin your prey onto walls.
The Bloodborne-looking arm at 1:00 and the red-colored spearman at 1:26 stood out to me.
"We were humbled by the popularity of the beta and we closely studied the feedback we received to create something that we are incredibly proud of," Cold Symmetry said in a statement. People can be picky about this style of combat, myself definitely included, but that's not to say we can't acclimate.
Worst-case scenario, I'm up for a Demon's Souls remake appetizer, jank and all.
I've been a merchant of a lot of things. The Elite series allowed me to be a space trader, Euro Truck Simulator let me try my hand at terrestrial trade, and Wall Street Kid had me trading stocks directly. Now it's time for Merchant of the Skies to marry the concept with another of my favorite fantasy passions: airships.
Grand Theft Auto V still making bank, pushing 135 million copies and counting
Publisher Take-Two Interactive has released its financial report for the first quarter of the fiscal year, revealing blockbuster figures thanks to major catalogue contributors such as Red Dead Redemption 2, NBA 2K20, Borderlands 3, and The Outer Worlds.
But the crown jewel in Take-Two's vault remains Rockstar's 2013 magnum opus, Grand Theft Auto V. To date, the open-world crime sim has sold close to 135 million copies across the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC platforms. Amazingly, giving away GTA V for free on Epic Games Store in May 2020 only further increased base sales, as June would see the controversial title enjoy its most successful sales month since launch.
Through sales and resales, in addition to the incredibly lucrative GTA Online multiplayer component, Grand Theft Auto V continues its reign as one of the most successful and best-selling video games of all-time. And it's not over yet. Given that Rockstar has already announced its intention to port this epic release to next-gen PS5 platform, GTA V looks set to print money for years to come.
Grand Theft Auto V is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One. It will launch on PS5 in late 2021.
Bloodstained is finally getting Boss Revenge and Chroma Wheel on Switch 'later this month'
Amid a very hectic and unpredictable schedule, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been getting updates periodically.
Zangetsu was added as a playable character a few months ago, on top of the previously-promised Boss Revenge (playable bosses) and Chroma Wheel (protagonist customization) modes. But the latter two were not fated for Switch, it seems, as that version has its own timeline (along with a few other wacky platforms like EA Origin, which has its own patch pipeline).
While the development team isn't quite ready to nail down a date yet, we do have a window: "later this month." Taking to Facebook, they noted that "Boss Revenge Mode and Chroma Wheel debut on Game Pass and EA Origin this week then later this month for Nintendo Switch." Crash fixes for other platforms are coming soon: crashes that the last patch introduced, mind.
As a reminder, a new landing page is open now that breaks down the status of each platform.
Bloodstained [Facebook]
Rose, Dan, Oro, and Rival Schools' Akira are headed to Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
Capcom - with an assist from AEW star Kenny Omega - has revealed a brand new batch of content headed to Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, in what will be the competitive fighting game's fifth - and reportedly final - season.
In announcements made during today's Summer Update live stream, Season V will see SFV's 40-strong roster joined by Street Fighter III's bizarre hermit Oro, Street Fighter Zero doofus Dan Hibiki and, my long-time "main," the glamourous fortune-teller Rose. Rounding out this quartet, from the awesome Rival Schools, is badass biker gal Akira Kazama. A fifth and final character will be revealed at a later date.
Courtesy of PlayStation Blog, here's some work-in-progress footage of Dan in action.
(Update) Ask us anything on the Destructoid forums starting this month!
[Update: The fifth Destructoid AMA session is now live! So be sure to stop by our official forums and Ask Your Anything to Destructoid's resident live-streamer and Twitch haunter Dreezy. Have Fun!]
Yup! You heard that right. Starting this month, we'll be hosting a series of AMA ("Ask Me Anything") sessions 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:
Japanese physical edition of Ikaruga includes this cool model kit
September will see one of the most beloved shmups of all time come blasting on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, as Treasure's 2001 classic Ikaruga takes to the skies once again for another round of frenetic, twitch-inducing arcade action. And for die-hard fans, Japanese publisher Pikii is producing a special physical release for both platforms.
The Ikaruga limited physical edition will include a boxed copy of the game on PS4 or Nintendo Switch, complete with a colour manual and a reversible art sleeve. But most temptingly of all, this edition will also come bundled with a metal model kit of the famous Ikaruga ship itself, manufactured by Metal Earth. This edition is available to pre-order from the official Pikii store, priced at ¥4,950 - roughly $45 USD - but the site does not ship outside Japan, so you might have to resort to third-party sellers or after-market sales, unfortunately.
Magic: Arena is getting a huge shakeup soon as standard rotation happens next month
After a fairly lively set of bans, the rest of the year is going to be pretty big for Magic: Arena.
First up, Amonhket Remastered is set to debut next week, which will usher in both of the recent Egypt-themed sets that have since rotated out of standard play: Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation. It'll contain 338 total cards through booster packs, which can be placed in limited (sealed/draft) events as well as historic and "eventually," the pioneer format. The re-iteration that Arena will "eventually" have pioneer is always assuring.
Rotation is also just around the corner, which means a lot of cards will be cycling out of standard play, while the new Zendikar Rising set ushers in another era of standard Magic. In summation: Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, War of the Spark and Core 2020 will be out of the lineup. That's actually happening next month, but in the meantime on August 13, you can play "Standard 2021" early: to get used to all of the cards that are going away.
In other Arena news the fantastic "take two decks and mash them together to instantly play Magic" mode Jumpstart is being sunset on August 16 until an undisclosed date (it will be back), new player decks are being updated next rotation to add more relevant cards and combos, brawl matchmaking is being tweaked a bit to weigh specific commanders (Runed Halo is also banned in standard with Gideon's Intervention banned in historic brawl) and quality of life changes are coming to deck searches.
Oh, and the mobile version of Arena is coming at some point, though there is no word on when that's happening. There's a ton of work going on behind the scenes here. I mean introducing and coding a new set to work properly is a task in its own right.
State of the Game [Wizards]
Udon's The Art of Shantae is finally available to pre-order
It's taken some time to hit the shelves, but it seems that publisher Udon is now accepting pre-orders for The Art of Shantae, which was first announced way back at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017, when Shantae: Half-Genie Hero was still a brand new release!
The Art of Shantae is a hefty 224-page hardcover that will be no doubt packed full of colourful artwork, designs, concepts and sketches of WayForward's wonderful platforming series. Fans can expect images of Shantae and her pals Rottytops, Sky, Bolo, and Uncle Mimic, as well as enemies and frenemies such as The Squid Baron, the Seven Sirens, Giga Mermaid, and the notorious pirate, Risky Boots.
The latest Smash Ultimate patch comes with a new modified stage
When will Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stop getting random updates and fighters? Not for a while! This week's big news is a new modified stage, as well as some "adjustments" for online play and some bug fixes. Let's dig in.
The new arena is called "Small Battlefield," and is literally just a rework of the existing Battlefield stage. You can now set it as the "preferred rule" in online battles if you really want to dive into more intimate battles on a regular basis. Music selection has been altered a bit too for Battlefield, Small Battlefield, Big Battlefield and Final Destination.
As for online play, some nondescript adjustments have been done, with promises for "further investigations" into future online improvements. Good idea now that everyone is locked in! I just wish this happened sooner as online play is one of the only major flaws of Smash Ultimate nearly two years in.
Wait, nearly two years? Yep, Ultimate has remained relevant for that long and will hit its second anniversary this December. Bless it.
Ver. 8.1.0 [Nintendo]
Welp, here's another major surprise announcement from Nintendo out of the blue!
By way of a quick email with zero fanfare, we've learned that Pikmin 3 will be hitting the Switch in "Deluxe" form. It's actually out on October 30 priced at $59.99, and will launch on Switch with "new content, more options for co-op play and a range of settings that make it easier for newcomers to jump in."
The biggest thing is the ability to "play the whole story" in co-op mode with a friend, as well as the addition of new side story missions that are also co-op enabled. Oh, and all previous DLC will be included, too, as well as new mechanics like lock-on targeting, extra difficulty options and optional hints. Yes to everything.
No joke, my wife and I still play Pikmin 3's co-op bingo mode to this day. I'm beyond excited for this port.
Dynasty Warriors producer hints at incoming anniversary announcements
This week sees the 20th anniversary of Koei Tecmo's epic war series Dynasty Warriors, celebrating two decades of countryside-clearing carnage. And if fans were concerned that the occasion was going to pass by without any new announcements, then they can allay those fears for the time being.
Speaking in an interview with Japanese gaming journal Weekly Famitsu, Dynasty Warriors series producer Akihiro Suzuki has hinted that there is exciting news on the horizon regarding the series. "I hope to be able to announce a 20th anniversary title in the near future," Suzuki said, before teasingly adding "By the way, there is not only one anniversary title."
Elsewhere in the interview, Suzuki noted that Dynasty Warriors 9 would not be receiving an Xtreme Legends spin-off, saying that the base game's system is not suited to the Xtreme Legends style. Suzuki also expressed disappointment at some of the feedback received from Dynasty Warriors 9, theorising that the studio perhaps took on too big a challenge in the sequel's design.
Dynasty Warriors 9 is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Dynasty Warriors anniversary title announcement coming soon [Gematsu / Ryokutya2089]
Final Fantasy VII HD is coming to Xbox Game Pass this month
It's going to be a good month for Game Pass, especially if you don't own a PS4.
Why's that? Well, you probably haven't played the Final Fantasy VII Remake yet, so you might be up for some Final Fantasy VII action. That's coming to both Xbox One and PC via Game Pass this month on August 13 in Final Fantasy VII HD form. Not a bad little addition to have, especially since Game Pass is going hog wild with JRPGs like other Final Fantasy titles and Kingdom Hearts.
Game Pass is getting some newer stuff, too. On August 6 it'll add Darksiders Genesis, It Lurks Below, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, Trailmakers, UnderMine and Xeno Crisis. Darksiders Genesis is the perfect co-op game to play right now while you're locked in with a family member: same with Man of Medan, which has a "movie night" kind of feel to it.
Overall it might not be a blowout month, but I'm a fan. You can find the full list of August Xbox Game Pass editions below.
Fire Emblem Heroes hits the seven seas in pirate-themed update
Swab the decks, mizzen the masts, and... erm... keel... haul... something. Nintendo's Fire Emblem Heroes is preparing a brand new update, which will bring pirate-themed content to the mobile battle title.
The latest event, which launches on Friday, will add four Special Heroes to the expansive FeH roster. Joining the crew are Brigid (from Genealogy the Holy War), Tibarn (from Path of Radiance), Geese (from The Binding Blade), and finally the Fire Emblem Heroes antagonist herself, Veronica. Our new heroes are all sporting seafaring attire and are ready and willing to loot and plunder... uhh... me hearties.
Horizon Zero Dawn is just as stunning and flawed on PC
It's hard to believe that Horizon Zero Dawn is over three years old at this point, but Sony has so many great new IPs this generation, it's hard to keep track of them all.
Bringing Horizon Zero Dawn back into the limelight makes a whole lot of sense given that we're getting a next-generation sequel, but it's the way that Sony is doing it that is so noteworthy. Horizon Zero Dawn is a first-party title released by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Yet, it's coming to PC via Steam.
We've seen this sort of ubiquitous platform-proliferation from the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo, but for Sony, it's much rarer: especially for a AAA release. I hope they do it more often.
Why yes, I would like to play this leather daddy brawler
Twitter is, for the most part, an absolute cesspool of a website, a wretched hive of villainy and scum that only sometimes makes its continued existence worthwhile. For the past few months, the only worthwhile thing on Twitter has been getting updates on the next game from Hörberg Productions. The creator of Gunman Clive and Mechstermination Force has been toiling away on a brawler that looks so wonderfully gay.
Giveaway: Take a Gift of the Noble Guard for Neverwinter on PS4 or Xbox One
In today's giveaway you can claim a Gift of the Noble Guard key for Neverwinter PS4 or Xbox One!
It's giveaway time again! Today we've got console keys for Neverwinter: Avernus contest, giving you exclusive content and a boost in XP for your adventures, so claim one before they're gone!
Treyarch and Raven Software are on the next Call of Duty
With a Q4 2020 release planned for the next Call of Duty and its leaked Black Ops Cold War name spinning around our heads, it's about time we learned who's developing the game. As announced during Activision's earnings call today, Treyarch and Raven Software – not Sledgehammer – are on point.
It’s official. Looking forward to showing you what we’ve been cooking up with @RavenSoftware!
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) August 4, 2020
It's hard to generalize for a series as big as Call of Duty, but I'd say that many fans have a soft spot for Black Ops – Treyarch has fun. Even without concrete details, there's wiggle room for cautious excitement. And, as far as these things go, I appreciate having a condensed marketing cycle. As noted on the call by Activision president and COO Daniel Alegre, they're still planning a "release later this year."
One thing is for sure: Activision will have to continue juggling Call of Duty: Warzone. The latest milestone? 75 million players. It's a winning format, but I hope they can rein in the bloated file size.
Season five of Warzone has an evil-looking train, a Mini Royale mode, and an operator named Lerch.
@Treyarch, @RavenSoftware [Twitter]
Call of Duty 2020 is developed by Treyarch and Raven, Activision confirms [VGC]
It's all warm fuzzies and feel-good vibes in the DayZ and Arma Humble Bundle
This week's Humble Bundle has a little more tension than usual, as it's a collection of games where any misstep could be your undoing.
Bohemia Interactive is the subject of the newest Humble Bundle, meaning that DayZ and a ton of Arma games are on sale. Arma shoots for the tactical military simulation angle, and DayZ is all about ultra-gritty post-apocalyptic zombie survival. It's all very realistic if zombies were realistic.
Anyway, you can definitely get your fill of both if you shell out a little cash this week. Here's what's on the table:
Sony might have more PS5 news up its sleeve this month
There's a State of Play scheduled for this Thursday, but don't get your hopes up too high. Sony got out in front of the inevitable conjecture and said that this stream will mostly focus on PS4 and PlayStation VR games. PlayStation 5 will not make a meaningful appearance.
But, that doesn't close the door on PS5 news in the near future. Bloomberg reports that Sony plans to make a PS5 announcement sometime this month. However, that isn't set in stone. Bloomberg uses the word "tentatively," indicating that its source very much acknowledges that Sony could move away from some sort of August reveal.
For those of you keeping score at home, we're still without a price and launch date for the PlayStation 5 (and Xbox Series X for that matter). We know the games, we know what it looks like, we know that there are two models. Just two crucial pieces of information left, and maybe -- just maybe -- we'll get them later this month.
Sony Gives Conservative Forecast After Profit Tops Estimates [Bloomberg]
Slick Project CARS 3 trailer wants to know 'what drives you'
Slightly Mad Studios has released another glossy new trailer for its upcoming driving simulator Project CARS 3, which launches on PS4, PC, and Xbox One on August 28.
The new trailer, titled "What Drives You," gives fans a look at some of the sleek and sexy roadsters available to take for 200 MPH burn around any one of the sequel's 140 global tracks. Whether you're all about speed, handling, drifting, or just looking like a massive wanker billionaire, you're sure to find the car of your dreams among the 200 models on offer. Engage in races and casual drives, and use credits won in-game to purchase customisation options for all of your vehicles and drivers.
Review: Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On
Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On had a reputation to live up to outside of Japan's arcades and the import community who played its predecessors.
The first major waves it made outside of that community was around the release of Gundam Versus, where a vocal crowd criticized Namco for releasing that instead of the arcade title. With the announcement of the home console port earlier this year, the question on many minds outside of that crowd, including my own, was simple: is it worth the hype? Could an old title really be that good?
Turns out, it absolutely does live up to that hype.
Marvel's Avengers has more PlayStation exclusives beyond Spider-Man
There's one month to go until Marvel's Avengers launches and we're already so tired.
Following yesterday's Spider-Man PlayStation exclusivity news – short recap: the entire character, not just an innocuous skin, will skip Avengers on Xbox One and PC – there's even more deal-making.
The PlayStation versions of Marvel's Avengers (it's also coming to PS5) will get "30-day exclusive access to a Legendary Outfit, Legendary Emote, Epic Takedown, and nameplate for each Super Hero as they are released," including characters like Hawkeye, the first post-launch arrival, and the day-one cast.
That's far from it. "Certain" Community Challenges – shared goals with shared rewards – will be exclusive to PlayStation. As for PlayStation Plus rewards (you knew that was next), there's a few.
"For each Super Hero added to the game post-launch, Hawkeye included, all PS Plus members will receive a free bundle that contains a Rare Outfit, nameplate, and 100 Credits to celebrate the addition of another Avenger to the roster," said Crystal Dynamics. A Ms. Marvel bundle is up first at launch.
There's also early beta access on PS4 this month, but we already knew about that. This fuckin' game...
Work together in style with Community Challenges and cosmetics for Marvel's Avengers [PlayStation Blog]
Baldur's Gate 3's Early Access launch is technically delayed but not by much
At one of the many pseudo-E3 replacement streams, Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke boldly told fans that the studio is trying to get Baldur's Gate 3 into Early Access in August. It was a confident approach to a not-confident situation. Vincke acknowledged that COVID-19 hurdles made that August target a big old question mark, but Larian was trying anyway.
Shoot for the moon and you'll land among the stars... or something like that. Baldur's Gate 3 won't make August, and no one really blames Larian for that. It is, however, coming shortly thereafter.
Overwatch has eight skins for Summer Games 2020 including Lifeguard Pharah
We made it to another Overwatch Summer Games event! If you're over Lucioball – there's several refinements for 2020 and a faster Remix mode with two balls on the field – then there's always skins.
The Internet has fallen head over heels for Lifeguard Pharah, and I'm not about to go against the grain.
Other Legendary skins for Summer Games 2020 include Tropical Baptiste, Feskarn Brigitte, Surf's Up Echo, and my second favorite, Karate Doomfist, which makes me wish I was better with his combos under pressure. Blizzard is also giving out three Overwatch skins in weekly challenge events.
- Week 1: Win 3 Games (Baseballmari Player Icon), Win 6 Games (Union Jack Spray), Win 9 Games (Union Jack Tracer skin)
- Week 2: Win 3 Games (Golfmari Player Icon), Win 6 Games (Sand Castle Spray), Win 9 Games (Sand Castle Bastion skin)
- Week 3: Win 3 Games (Surfimari Player Icon), Win 6 Games (Ice Cream Spray), Win 9 Games (Ice Cream Orisa skin)
The festivities began this morning, and they'll carry on through August 25, 2020.
We all know that a "'90s FPS 30 years later" isn't exactly a novel concept. And that's fine!
We have Ion Fury, Dusk, Immortal Redneck, Strafe, Prodeus, and countless others to keep us busy if we want to toil away our days reliving the glory days. Hellbound is another one to add to that pile, that does what it sets out to do and gets out, without leaving too fond of a lasting memory.
Fall Guys' launch was a little too successful for its own good
Today sees the launch of Mediatonic's chaotic Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, the wacky multiplayer game that sees armies of curious characters race through a challenging obstacle course in efforts to be the last... erm... "thing" standing. Unfortunately, it seems that this wild release has proved a little too popular, crashing player servers within hours of launch.
Speaking on Twitter, Mediatonic said that the player count had "skyrocketed" past expectations, with some 120,000 players all logging in to the PS4 edition during the game's opening hours. Ultimately, the developer was forced to turn off matchmaking and frantically get to work on "beefing up" the servers in order to cope with the ongoing demand.
[Update: The developers have disabled matchmaking while they "scale up and optimise."]
I think everyone would have wanted this giant Switch TV setup as a kid
As a kid, I had a hand-me-down TV from an uncle that I gamed with for many years. I was grateful as hell for it because I was a kid with my own TV. But I think everyone can relate to wishes of a "dream setup" for gaming, and this one from Redditor and parent Pjmonday takes the cake.
Yep, it's an LED 4K Toshiba 75-inch TV mounted on a wall inside of a Nintendo Switch-like replica. They were able to get the Switch crafted due to a friend's print shop. The two decals on the wall (Mario and the Skylanders element logos) are due to the interests of his two kids.
The room is not finished, Pjmonday says, but the storage below the TV is for holding one of his kid's Skylanders figures. PjMonday also clarifies that the Mario bricks were modified from this IKEA Kallax unit, custom made with a printed vinyl decal.
The Switch TV is installed! [Reddit]
Resident Evil drives another hugely successful year for Capcom
Despite the tumultuous year that is 2020 causing multiple issues for companies and industries across the globe, it has also lead to a lot of at-home spending in the video game industry. We reported earlier today how PlayStation has seen a huge increase in year-on-year game sales in recent months, and it appears that the same can be said for long-time developer/publisher Capcom.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the 2020 quarter ending June 30 has seen Capcom report net sales of around $223 million USD, an increase of 37% on the same quarter in 2019. This leads to a net profit of around $73.5 million which itself is a huge increase of 44% on 2019. These results are almost entirely centered around 2020 video game sales, with brands such as Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Street Fighter enjoying healthy sales numbers.
Indeed, April's Resident Evil 3 remake sold in the region of 2.7 million copies, raising lifetime Resident Evil franchise sales to over 103 million units. Capcom's best-selling game of all time, Monster Hunter: World, also continues to pull in new players, having shifted an incredible 16 million copies total on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Capcom expects 2020 to ultimately prove another record year, and already has big plans for 2021, spear-headed by the arrival of Resident Evil Village on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X.
Capcom sees Q1 profits up, driven entirely by its game business [GamesIndustry.biz]
Another WipEout-looking futuristic racer is coming next month
It's been a while since we've heard about Pacer, but it seems like it's on track to release next month.
In case you missed the initial announcement, Pacer is one of a long line of futuristic racers that is carrying on the legacy of games like WipEout and F-Zero. Developed by R8 Games, Pacer will allow for solo play, as well as support online matches for up to 10 players.
It's set in 2075 where anti-gravity motorsports are king, and will feature tracks from CoLD SToRAGE as well as a number of other electronica artists. Five vehicles are in, with customization options for each, alongside of 14 tracks with classic variants like night, mirror and reverse tracks. It'll also boast eight modes, including a "battle royale inspired" gametype, as well as a campaign.
It all sounds good on paper! Hopefully the physics are on point and it's fun to play. Pacer is out on September 17 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Gayming Magazine to host LGBTQ-focused Gayming Awards in 2021
British online media outlet Gayming Magazine has announced that it will be holding its first "Gayming Awards" ceremony in early 2021, offering recognition and plaudits to companies, communities, streamers and games that offer positive and inclusive support in their representation of the LGBTQ community.
An "esteemed global panel of over 20 LGBTQ judges" will shortlist nominees in multiple categories, focused on in-game narrative and characters, as well as general representation within the industry. The nominees will be announced later in 2020, with the winners to be revealed at a live London event in February 2021. The ceremony will be hosted by British comedian Suzi Ruffell.
The categories for the Gayming Awards 2021 are listed below. For more information on the awards and nominations, visit the official Gayming Magazine awards page.
Devolver has killed Carrion's suggestive Switch icon
Devolver is known for its (sometimes cloying) irreverence, but this time they took it too far according to a bunch of Switch users.
For those of you who aren't in the know, Switch icons are a big deal. At least, according to a subset of the Switch community. Fans have campaigned to get ugly icons "fixed" to newer, better ones for the past several years, but this case is by far the most entertaining in recent memory.
Carrion, the gross Mature-rated game about eating people and growing into an unstoppable organic killing machine, had an appropriately gross icon. But people weren't having it! So after roughly two weeks, Devolver acquiesced and changed it from amazing fake genitalia to the game's standard logo (which you can view below).
I'm kind of amazed Devolver was able to get away with it in the first place, but then again the eShop is getting eroge now, so times are changing!
Devolver Digital [Twitter]
Legendary Sega arcade in Akihabara to close later this month
One of the few remaining landmark arcade centres has announced that it will be closing its doors at the end of the month. Sega Building 2, located in Akihabara, Japan, will hit the lights for the last time on August 30, ending a 17-year run of public entertainment.
Based in the heart of the technology-loving Akihabara neighbourhood, Sega Building 2 opened in 2003 under the name "Akihabara Kigo" and immediately welcomed a slew of players with its wide variety of arcade games, pachinko machine and UFO grabbers. As captivating on the outside as it is on the inside, Sega Building 2 has for years caught the attention of passers-by with huge, colourful murals of popular anime and video game characters, as you can see in these photos from @kaztsu.
PS4 console sales continue to slow in anticipation of PS5 launch
The latest financial report from Sony shows that sales of its flagship console, PlayStation 4, continue to slow down as 2020 progresses, as the world awaits the launch of PlayStation 5, scheduled for release in the holiday season.
Sony has shipped 1.9 million PS4 units since June 30, 2020, which is less than the 3.2 million shipped during the same period in 2019. While COVID-19 could be considered a factor in the drop in sales - having resulted in high street closure - this pattern actually began back in the holiday season of 2019, which saw a year-on-year drop of around two million units.
The slowing down of sales in the PS4's twilight years was an obvious inevitability, and it's highly doubtful that Sony sees this as a concern. After all, the PS4 has sold an incredible 112.3 million consoles to date, a total that surpasses the lifetime hardware sales of the original PlayStation and the Nintendo Wii. It does seem, however, that the PS4 is unlikely to catch up with the greatest selling console of all time, PlayStation 2, which still holds fort with an amazing 155 million units. It was a solid effort, though.
In terms of growth, PlayStation software is up by an amazing 41 million units compared to the same time period in 2019. Again, the global pandemic and lockdown legislation will have a hand to play in this. Also on the rise are PlayStation Plus subscribers, with 44.9 million players signed up to the digital service. All-in, PlayStation continues to be a solid, reliable, and powerful brand - a strong position to be in as the curtain rises on a brand new generation.
PS4 worldwide shipments top 112.3 million [Gematsu]
Unlike Sony, Microsoft confirms that 'all' Xbox One controllers will work on Series X
Yesterday, we learned what we all assumed: that DualShock 4 remotes were not compatible with PlayStation 5 games, which were "designed to take advantage of the [new] DualSense" remote.
This week, Microsoft came crashing in with the news that "yeah, everything will work across generations." Microsoft is pretty emphatic with this message, stating that "Xbox Series X is compatible with ALL Xbox One controllers across ALL games." That includes official Xbox One remotes, the Xbox Adaptive Controller, the Xbox Elite and the "designed for Xbox third-party Xbox One controllers and headsets."
Even better, Microsoft also states that the Xbox Series X controller will work on "all Xbox One consoles, windows PCs, Android and iOS and Project xCloud." This morning the publisher confirmed that Razer, PowerA and 8BitDo were all working on officially licensed controllers for mobile devices.
That's....all kind of insanely awesome? Along with the Game Pass initiative and SmartDelivery, Microsoft is doing a great job of uniting generations to the point where it is partly ubiquitous. While this could change down the line as the company focuses on the Series X, the entry point into the new generation is as painless as it has ever been.
Also, given the creeping cost of controllers, this is amazing news in general. You can pop open your Xbox Series X box and jump into four-player Halo Infinite split-screen co-op without spending hundreds on remotes.
Xbox [Twitter]
Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud merge on September 15
The two best Xbox services combine into one in mid-September. Xbox Game Pass is the best value in gaming. Project xCloud is an ambitious cloud streaming service that's absolutely eating Google Stadia's lunch right now. Soon enough, they'll be walking hand-in-hand.
Microsoft has added some specificity to what it had already announced: The Xbox Game Pass library is being introduced to Project xCloud on September 15. Or, if you prefer to look at it from the other angle, Game Pass titles will be available for streaming on Android devices on September 15. It's a big merger regardless of which way it's framed.
However, it's not all tiers of Game Pass that get xCloud functionality. It requires an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription (which also includes access to Game Pass for PC) in order to unlock game streaming. Ultimate runs $15 per month after an initial $1-for-one-month promotion.
It's also worth noting that this doesn't seem to be a complete blending of Game Pass into xCloud. Microsoft mentions that more than 100 games will be included, but stops short of stating it's the whole library. There are likely licensing issues in place that prevent some Game Pass titles from being used on platforms other than Xbox One.
For what it's worth, Microsoft also has plans to bring Project xCloud to PC later this year, meaning you'll be able to stream Game Pass titles to your desktop or laptop. The complete full-circle Xbox ecosystem has nearly come to fruition.
Contest: Win Crysis Remastered for Switch
In today's contest you can win Crysis Remastered for Switch!
I've never had a high-end PC, so Crysis was always something of a myth to me. Funny how far we've come, eh? Our handheld consoles can now play something that was highly known for its technical side!
Crysis Remastered seems to be a good fit for Switch, so if you're keen on checking it out, we've got copies to give away!
Pee War is pretty much what it sounds like
I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. I don't know why I keep doing this to you. I wish I could see something as massively stupid as Pee War and ignore it like everyone else on the internet.
...but I just can't. I can't sit here and not present Pee War to you. It is my sworn duty to find dumb games and make you pay attention to them. I'm so sorry, everyone.
Good luck! Fall Guys has a win-five-times-in-a-row trophy
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has devious trophies, but one, in particular, will always be elusive.
It's one thing to win – there are trophies for your first, seventh, and twentieth victories in Fall Guys – but winning "five episodes in a row" for the Infallible trophy? 0.1% completion rate, here we come!
One small tip: don't forget to grab the floating crown – literally. You have to grab it with your hands.
The developers previously talked about a trophy that's "so insanely hard I don't think anyone will ever unlock it" during a Reddit AMA. Today, in a follow-up tweet, Mediatonic joked that "Every time someone says 'five wins in a row are too much for the platinum trophy' we increase the number of wins by one."
After spending around four hours with the Fall Guys beta last week, I only came close to the crown once, and even then I was the third-best player during the final round. There's relief knowing that I'll never earn the platinum trophy and shouldn't get my hopes up. That said, a few of 'em sound pretty fun:
- Victory!: Win your first Episode
- Flawless Victory: Qualify from a round without falling over even once
- Face First: Qualify from a racing round despite falling over more than 10 times
- Big Tease: Perform an emote just before coming first in a race round
- Fall Bae: Share a hug with a Fall Guy
- Big Air: Clock up one hour total time falling
- Style Points: Fall for at least three seconds before landing on your head
- Troublemaker: Bump into three people while rolling on the ground before getting up
- Fall Throttle: Reach terminal velocity
The race is on tomorrow, August 4, when Fall Guys launches on Steam and PlayStation 4.
Fall Guys Trophies [Exophase]
Nioh 2 has a funny reward for clearing Dream of the Demon
You might finish all of the Tengu's Disciple DLC missions in one go, but Nioh 2's newly-added Dream of the Demon mode is going to be a weeks-long time-sink for many of us. After hearing about the reward for clearing the base game on New Game++ difficulty, I'm committed: I've gotta see this through.
As posted by Reddit user Zippygup, the reward for clearing every main mission in Nioh 2 on Dream of the Demon difficulty (minus Online Missions) is the Smithing Text needed to craft the Scampuss Hat.
It's exactly what it sounds like: a cat hat!
Ladies and Gentlemen... the best piece of armor in the game: from r/Nioh
Another player, rileykard, says they got a Scampuss Hat from a Demon Parade Picture Scroll mission "where you get three Scampuss right at the start. After I completed the mission I could refashion into it."
Cosmetic appeal aside, the Scampuss Hat's special effect is Untouched Clay Bell of Reckoning. I love the idea of showing up to a boss fight with a cat on my head and a few more rolling behind me.
As for Dream of the Demon, it's no walk in the park – at least not with my currently under-leveled build. The recommended player level for the first story mission, the Village of Cursed Blossoms, is 250. Funnily enough, I beat Gozuki and Mezuki no problem, but a random Gaki took me down. Savage.
Whether or not I ever hit 100% completion, I'm already stoked about my drops in DotD so far.
Take-Two CEO says Rockstar and 2K's games are good enough to justify a $70 price
NBA 2K21 will be priced at $70 on PS5 and Xbox Series X instead of the current $60 price tag that games have carried for 15 years. When that was revealed last month, it wasn't necessarily welcomed with open arms. Many saw it as the first domino to fall before the industry eventually embraces the $10 price hike. In other words, the hobby just got more expensive.
Whether or not that's true -- Ubisoft has already said it's not raising the price of its games (for now) -- Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes the quality of Rockstar and 2K's titles justify the extra $10. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Zelnick says "The pricing has to reflect the quality of the experience, and we aim to provide the best experiences in the business. And from our point of view, it's an extremely modest price change given that prices haven't changed for a very long time."
Zelnick goes on to cite costlier development and the caliber of experience on next-generation consoles as two factors that informed Take-Two's decision to charge an extra $10. Judging by the language Zelnick uses during the interview, you get the impression that the $70 price tag isn't a one-off for NBA 2K21. Sales will have to really slump to keep this from becoming permanent for Take-Two.
Really, this isn't so much about the quality of the experience as it is the popularity of the experience. Franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, NBA 2K, and (to a lesser extent) Borderlands absolutely print money. There are a handful of properties in all of video games that can charge a premium and get away with it, leaving consumers to grumble but stop short off missing out on the next big game. It just so happens that Take-Two is a holding company that owns a lot of those, putting it in prime position to lead the charge.
Take-Two: Next-gen software price hikes "reflect the quality of the experience" [GamesIndustry.biz]
Grounded needs an asymmetrical mode where you can play as a spider
There's no getting around it: Grounded is a hit. More than a million people have downloaded the game that is definitely-not-but-totally-is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and according to Podtoid's Dan Roemer, it's one damn-fine survival game.
That's just one of the topics covered on this episode of Podtoid. Charlotte, Occams, CJ, Dan, and Chris break down why we need more playable spiders in games, dangerous toys for kids, Atelier Ryza, The Thing, Thing, and the Rambo film saga. All that, plus we answer listener questions, on Podtoid Episode 453.
As someone who played the hell out of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles back in the day, it came as a shock that the upcoming remaster would not support local play. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this remaster could work perfectly well for a new generation; not to mention the fact that it deserves to be preserved.
I sat down with the game's director, Ryoma Araki, to find out how he got involved with the project and why local multiplayer was cut.
The new Xbox Store is twice as fast as the current one
One of the persistent items on Microsoft's to-do list over the entire lifespan of the Xbox One is to change the perception that the interface is slow and laggy. For the past seven years, the Xbox One dashboard and store have been constantly tweaked to incrementally improve performance.
That's why it's no surprise that Microsoft's unveiling of yet another Xbox Store leads with the revelation that it's twice as fast as the current store. The next iteration will launch in under two seconds and Microsoft says it's "faster than ever to load pages and find what you need."
It's not all about speed, though. There are a ton of other touches that make the store better. Among them: Inline trailers a la Netflix, better filters, a revamped wish list, a new shopping cart, functionality for buying Xbox 360 and original Xbox games without leaving the store, and new content filters that align with family safety settings.
This Xbox Store glow-up isn't quite yet ready for everybody. It's rolling out as part of the Xbox Insider program to some participants as early as Wednesday. It'll be publicly released this fall, and it's presumably the storefront that the Xbox Series X will launch with.
A New Microsoft Store Experience is Coming to Xbox Insiders [Xbox Wire]
Colourful Koopa Troopa variants coming to Mario Tennis Aces
It's been a minute since we heard any news regarding Mario Tennis Aces, but given the scorching weather we're experiencing right now, it seems fitting that Nintendo is hoping players will be getting back out on the digital courts this month.
Players participating in August's online tournament will automatically unlock a colourful selection of Koopa Troopas and Koopa Paratroopers. The unfortunately titled Yoshi's Ring-Shot challenge also returns for the summer, and will be offering up completion rewards in the form of blue, red, and yellow Yoshis. All of these characters have been rewards previously, but if you missed out first time around, here's a fresh opportunity.
Originally released in June 2018, Mario Tennis Aces sees a wide variety of characters from the Super Mario Bros. universe take to the court for entertaining - and somewhat silly - tennis matches. Hardly a professional simulation, Mario Tennis Aces is a fun and friendly arcade game that features a selection of physics-defying trick shots and racquet-destroying Specials.
Mario Tennis Aces is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Mario Tennis Aces adds Koopa Troopas [Japanese Nintendo]
It looks like you mocked the Xbox Series X badge so hard that Microsoft scrapped it altogether
Don't let anyone ever tell you that all your snark and cynicism is misdirected energy. Most of the time it only serves to bring down everyone's spirits, but sometimes it gets shit done.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad reveals that Microsoft has nixed the "Optimized for Xbox Series X" badge that was prominently placed on most every next-gen box cover. Here's what the change looks like:
Ghost of Tsushima celebrates third week on top of the UK Charts
Sucker Punch's PS4 smash hit Ghost of Tsushima has retained its place atop of the UK Charts, making it a third week at number one for the open-world samurai epic.
Ghost of Tsushima managed to hold off continued sales from Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as the launch of THQ Nordic's Destroy All Humans! with the sci-fi remaster debuting at number three. Also appearing in the Top Ten this week is Easy Day Studios' sandbox skating title Skater XL, which finally saw release on PC and consoles after spending an extended period of time in Early Access.
Elsewhere in the Top Ten, Koei Tecmo's anime RPG Fairy Tail debuted at number 15, while DotEmu's Streets of Rage 4 made its long-awaited physical release, landing one step ahead at number 14. The brawler sequel has been available to purchase digitally since its launch back in April, thus its physical numbers are understandably lower than expected.
Wonderful 101 Remastered just got a new patch that 'allows higher score totals'
The Wonderful 101 got a new lease on life this past May in remastered form, but it seems as if Platinum is still tweaking the game ever so slightly.
It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but Platinum recently put up the patch notes for the remastered edition's 1.0.2 update, which brings a few welcome upgrades to the table. First up: the UI. Minigames have gotten a facelift, with better menus: likely now that Platinum has more time to sit back and tweak little quality of life things after doing the heavy lifting of moving the base game off of the Wii U.
But the best part of the update is easily the improvement to the scoring system, which now allows higher score totals for "certain stages." You mean my near-perfect rating wasn't already near-perfect?! You can find the full rundown of the brief patch notes below.
Thankfully Platinum shared this info openly: a lot of games obscure their patch notes so it's tough to figure out what was actually changed.
The Wonderful 101: Remastered Ver.1.0.2 Update [Platinum]
This past weekend's Japan Fighting Game Publisher Roundtable live stream saw almost every major player in the fighting game market gather together to discuss the genre, its most difficult year in recent memory, and several upcoming surprises for some of the biggest fighters in today's scene.
Over the course of the event we saw Bandai Namco announce new content for Tekken 7 and Soulcalibur VI, Arc System Works drop new character trailers for Guilty Gear Strive, SNK confirm a third season for Samurai Shodown, while Capcom continues to hold its cards to its chest, holding on for this week's Street Fighter V live stream.
But amidst all of this new content, arguably the most actually proactive, positive, and important announcement was made by Arika, concerning its ultra-niche fighter Fighting EX Layer. In an update that is live in-game right now, Arika has implemented the highly-vaunted rollback netcode to its one-on-one slugfest, hoping to improve online stability far beyond that of its AAA contemporaries.
There is a strange and sad irony behind Fighting EX Layer and its inability to "play among the big boys." Many people, myself included, complain about publisher behavior in regards to modern fighting games. More often than not, these gripes relate to expensive DLC, player-punishing mechanics, and sub-standard online gameplay.
Yet Fighting EX Layer, the quietest fighter, with the smallest budget, not only gave away a chunk of its DLC for free but - with this latest update - is now attempting to be the slickest example regarding stable gameplay. Arika has directly addressed common fighting game complaints and taken steps to rectify them. During the stream, as noted by EventHubs, Arika said it was also testing cross-play integration between PS4 and PC platforms, which would certainly help expand FEXL's admittedly modest player pool.
In a live stream which ultimately boiled down to "Here is the next run of DLC we're getting set to sell you," it's an almost melancholic irony that the smallest developer, with the smallest title, is the only party that directly addressed one of the genre's most dogged issues. Will rollback netcode and crossplay help grow the FEXL audience to a Tekken or a Street Fighter level? Probably not. But there's certainly lessons to be learned from the underdog here, one of prioritising your title's core issues before queuing up run after run of paid content. Whether this lesson was learned - or even acknowledged - remains to be seen.
Fighting EX Layer is available now on PS4 and PC.
Spider-Man is a PlayStation exclusive in Marvel's Avengers
[Update: In a statement to IGN, Crystal Dynamics head Scot Amos said that Spider-Man "is the only character that we are doing that way." He added that this particular PlayStation exclusivity deal was a "unique opportunity for us because of the relationship that PlayStation and Marvel have."]
In a ridiculous console exclusivity moment, Sony confirmed this morning that Spider-Man will be a PlayStation-exclusive character in Marvel's Avengers when he joins the playable cast in "early 2021."
We don't know what he'll look like – expect a "Crystal Dynamics take on Spider-Man" with classic inspirations – but he'll "debut with an in-game event that will introduce him to the wider world of Marvel's Avengers." As with other post-launch characters, Spider-Man will be a free download.
Wild news for a game that many of us are, at best, on the fence about. I'm glad there's a beta.
As for the wall-crawler himself, Insomniac's rendition of Spider-Man will be a tough act to follow, and I feel like Crystal Dynamics will be hesitant to show him in Avengers until it's feeling super confident.
"When he's arcing through the air on his web line, we want you to feel graceful and light, and be able to utilize a variety of web configurations and gadgets to enhance your traversal," according to lead combat designer Vince Napoli. They're aiming for a seamless transition "from navigation to combat."
I can't help but wonder what else Sony might be eyeing for PlayStation 5's first few months.
A friendly neighborhood Spider-Man lends a helping hand to Earth's Mightiest Heroes in 2021 [PlayStation Blog]
