PS5 and Xbox Series X Should Be Delayed to 2021
With the next-generation of consoles, now feels like a good time to look back and reflect. Let's go back to the beginning of the current-gen: the introduction of the Xbox One and the PS4. These two consoles, although iterations of their predecessors, revolutionized games. PlayStation shifted towards narrative-driven, cinematic experiences that gripped a player with gameplay and storytelling that you hardly could find anywhere else. The Xbox One made itself a home for accessible gaming even up to the end of its lifespan with Xbox Game Pass. For a long seven years, these consoles have been the homes of so many games and players that the next-generation — the PS5 and Xbox Series X — really does seem like it has some big shoes to fill.
But it doesn't feel like that's going to happen.
Let's rewind a bit, just to the start of this year. In January, everything was very, very different. Optimism was in the air – it was going to be a year of change. Then February. Then…March. Then a pandemic, ensuing lockdown, economic devastation, the list goes on. Now, what does 2020 have to show for itself? A couple of announced consoles, and not much else. To get to the point, things are f***ed. So f***ed in fact, that the PS5 and Xbox Series X shouldn't even bother releasing this year. To hell with it: I say push them both back to 2021.
Here's a quick representation of 2020, in case you're a visual learner.
That tangent about the world does relate to the argument – oh, and there is an argument. There's no joke here: I fully believe that both of these video game boxes should be pushed back an entire year. Not only are the next-generation consoles not ready to launch, but the world simply isn't ready for them either.
The last part of that statement may sound a bit more ominous than it should, but I'll keep it in there because it's largely true. Right now isn't a great time for the business world, that's a simple fact. The COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impacts on the global economy have shaken every industry, some more than others. Lucky for the folks like us that play a lot of video games, this industry hasn't been as hard hit, but there's still been an impact.
First came the delays and cancellations of huge industry events across the globe. From Gamescom to E3, massive expos where fans of video games and members of the industry get together to witness new creations and celebrate the hobby we all share either aren't happening or aren't the same. Then came the loss of game tournaments (a personal subject as a fan of Super Smash Bros. Melee), which Business Insider found would result in a loss in revenue for the esports industry through 2020.
All the while, more stories of game developers and publishers shutting down their offices in favor of employees working at home were becoming more commonplace. Naturally, this affected productivity, leading to delays in the games that were supposed to make 2020 a big one. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, Dying Light 2, and of course Halo Infinite all cited the ongoing pandemic as at least a partial cause for delay.
But past all that–past the impacts of COVID-19 on the gaming industry and the business world–are the working-class folks that are suffering. The pandemic has destroyed economies, plain and simple. In America, unemployment in April was the highest it's been in the past 25 years, and in the last week of March, over six million Americans filed for unemployment insurance. Currently, the nation is facing down a second crisis in housing, as people without jobs and extended unemployment insurance stare down the barrel of eviction. Across the pond, the BBC reported that for the first time in 11 years, Britain is facing an economic recession.
The people affected economically by the pandemic are going broke. It's time for the folks selling not just consoles but all expensive consumer electronics to ask themselves this – is now the right time? I'm going to sound a little inhuman, since that's what business requires, and say that the human suffering happening across the world right now won't help drive sales. Simply put, you can't sell an Xbox Series X to someone who may not have a home in two months, let alone at the end of the year.
Like I said before though: the economic issues plaguing the world right now aren't the only reason why the next-generation consoles should be pushed back. Both the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 don't feel like they're offering enough just yet to justify their (likely) high prices.
Let's look back at the past for a second. Back in November 2013, the Xbox One launched on November 22. On day one, players could pick up a variety of titles in longstanding franchises, like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, and Call of Duty: Ghosts; that's not to mention exclusives for the console like Dead Rising 3 and Killer Instinct. Across the aisle, the PS4 launched with those same three franchises, as well as DC Universe Online, Killzone Shadow Fall, and of course Knack. These consoles didn't just launch with the usual AAA titles, they even had their own exclusives. The list went on from there for both of them, with a little something for anyone.
I'm not going to say that the launches of either of these consoles were perfect – they certainly weren't. The Xbox One started by pushing the Kinect, which I don't have to talk about much further than that. Meanwhile, the PS4 received its share of flak just for having Knack on it. But what both shared was a large, varied library of launch titles, and the craziest part was that a large amount of them were brand new.
Compared to the launch lineup of this year's consoles, things aren't looking the same way. The Series X recently lost its biggest launch title— which might have also been the biggest between the two consoles–Halo Infinite. Besides that, the console's list of new exclusive games is pretty short. Granted, the Series X is arriving with Xbox Game Pass to boot, which promises hundreds of games for a low monthly fee. But not many of those titles are new, and in fact, a lot of what both Game Pass and the Series X are advertising in terms of games have been out already for quite a while. It's looking more and more like the main selling point for the Xbox Series X in 2020 is to play the games you already have at a higher resolution and framerate.
Sony's PlayStation 5 isn't faring much better. The console's shortlist of launch titles includes Astro's Playroom (a tech demo for the DualSense controller), Rainbow Six Siege, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Once again though, not everything is negative. The PS5 is at least launching with one exclusive high-profile title in the form of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, though it's more of an enhanced expansion than a true Spider-Man sequel. Past that, there aren't many games to generate the kind of hype needed to sell a console.
That's what these consoles are really missing: a good reason to buy them. A majority of the games coming to both consoles are already available on current-gen machines, so why bother upgrading? At launch, the Series X and PS5 won't have a library like they will six months down the line, so why not wait?
A lot of things have gone perfectly wrong to make me feel this way about the launch of the next-generation of consoles. Forces both inside and outside of the games industry have made it so launching this November or December seems like the wrong move for Microsoft and Sony. New platforms with a smidge of new content available on them are poised to be sold to an ever-growing group of people struggling to get by. So instead, I have to go with the optimist inside me: the one that says that all the terrible things going on are relegated to this one calendar year. Hopefully 2021 will be vastly different, making next year the perfect time to launch these consoles; line them up with the release of more titles with substance, and with people feeling more comfortable spending their money.
But, nothing is likely to change. The Xbox Series X announced it was launching in November, the PS5 will likely announce a date in the same month or the one after. When they do launch, we won't know whether or not it was a good choice, at least not until sales numbers are made available. For the time being, we all just have to wait and see what the next couple of months have in store for us, and whether or not we are ready for next-gen, or if it's ready for us.
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SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehyrdrated Has Crossed One Million Sold Copies
Per DSOGaming, during Embracers Q1 report webcast presentation, it was revealed that SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehrdrated has sold over one million copies. It took the game a little over a month to cross that mark since the game just released on June 23rd.
Lars Wingefors, Embracers's CEO, stated that the game has been reviewed favorably from its fans. While the game received pretty decent reviews critically, the game has positive user reviews over on Steam.
At the end of the presentation, they noted that THQ Nordic had its best quarter ever. The company can thank both SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehrdrated and Destroy All Humans! Remake for all of the success.
For those of you who live under a rock, Rehrdrated is a complete remake of Battle For Bikini Bottom, a fondly remembered 3D platformer from the GameCube era of games. I find that the game doesn't hold a candle to the kings of the genre, but it definitely has gone down as one of the best licensed titles ever made. Usually, we could expect licensed games to be half-ass attempts at video games with a popular brand or franchise attached to the game. When this title was released, it was a great change of pace and showed that not all licensed games are just easy cash grabs.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehrdrated is currently available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Make sure to check out DualShockers' review of the game right here if you are a little skeptical about picking the game up.
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KonoSuba ADV: Opening Sequence, Theme Songs, Aqua Being Useless
We're back with more details on the KonoSuba ADV (what people outside Japan call visual novels) game by Mages. You know, that game whose full name is Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! -Kono Yokubou no Ishou ni Chouai wo!
We previously detailed the various routes of each of the KonoSuba Heroines. Now we'll take a look at the new details on the Limited edition, the bonus game included in first print copies, new screenshots, and the game's opening animation sequence.
Be sure to read the previous details if you have no idea what's happening in the screenshots above.
First print copies of the KonoSuba game will include a Space Harrier lookalike scrolling action game. The arcade game by Yu Suzuki is originally a Space Adventure Cobra reference. So in a way, this is the closest thing to a Cobra x KonoSuba collab in existence.
The pixel art mini game has six stages and multiple playable characters: Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, Darkness, Yunyun, and Chris. The story is kinda based on the anime's second season and the movie, and the characters are voiced.
There's also an oldschool stereoscopic 3d mode, with those red and blue glasses included. You probably have no idea what the hell I'm talking about if you were born later than early nineties.
Photos for the game's Limited Edition were revealed too:
As we previously explained, the PS4 version has a Megumin cheerleader SD figure, while the Switch version as an Aqua nurse SD figure.
New shop-specific pre-order goods were also revealed:
Next, we have the game's opening animation sequence, and a new trailer:
KonoSuba Mages Game Trailer, Opening Animation Sequence
The opening theme song is titled It's so fine! and is sung by Machico. The ending theme song is titled Ame Yadori and is sung by Aqua (Sora Amamiya), Mgumin (Rie Takahashi), and Darkness (Ai Kayano). A Single with both songs will be releasing on October 21 in Japan.
https://twitter.com/MachicoOfficial/status/1292819924365131777
Machico is pretty cool.
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! is a light novel part of the Isekai boom, written by Natsume Akatsuki and illustrated by Kurone Mishima. It's among the most popular isekai stories. Natsume Akatsuki also writes another novels titled Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! -Kono Yokubou no Ishou ni Chouai wo! (official site) launches on PS4, Switch, September 24 in Japan.
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Aquaplus revealed a bunch more of details and screenshots on Dokapon Up Mugen no Roulette, the new Utawarerumono board game. We detailed everything below.
The Dokapon series features Sugoroku with RPG elements and started on Super Famicom in 1993. It's nicknamed by some in Japan "Destroy Your Friendships: The Game".
Dokanpon Up Mugen no Roulette is a joint venture between Aquaplus who makes the Utawarerumono series, and Sting who develops the Dokapon series.
Dokanpon Up Mugen no Roulette's main story mode will be fully voiced, and multiple characters artwork have been revealed so far:
The official site includes profiles for the characters too, though it doesn't say anything particularly interesting if you already know the Utawarerumono series and clicked on this article in the first place. So we won't be translating them. It's basic info on how the characters met each other and their initial relationship at the beginning of the respective games they're from.
What's important to note is Haku will be voiced in the game by Keiji Fujiwara, who sadly passed away in April 2020. Japanese games record their dubbing very early in development, so this isn't surprising. He also voiced a character in the freshly released Fairy Tail RPG by Gust.
Over on Twitter, Aquaplus President Naoya Shimokawa confirmed this will be the final time Keiji Fujiwara voices Haku, meaning future Utawarerumono related games will replace him with a new seiyuu:
「うたわれるもの 偽りの仮面」以降、藤原啓治さんにはハクへ命を吹き込んでいただきました。
「ドカポンUP!」はハク役として最後の収録作品となります。
ハクが多くの人々に愛されているのは、ひとえに啓治さんのおかげにほかなりません。
本当に、本当にありがとうございました。
— 下川 直哉 Aquaplus (@AP_shimokawa) August 5, 2020
Seeing Dokapon Up Mugen no Roulette launches on December 10, 2020, it's likely it'll be the final posthumous work of Keiji Fujiwara overall. Another iconic personality tied with the Utawarerumono series, composer Michio Kinugasa, also passed away recently.
Dokapon Up Mugen no Roulette has a story mode, will let you play against friends and family offline, and most notably has an online battle mode, a first for the Dokapon series on consoles.
A Limited Edition will be releasing as well, including an artbook, an OST CD, 2 acrylic key chains (Haku and Kuon), and a DLC code to unlock Anju Battle Version a a playable character.
This DLC code will be included in first-print copies too. It'll also be distributed to those who buy the game digitally during a certain time-frame after release.
Additional screenshots from the game are included below. It looks like a typical Dokapon game or any board game from Mario Party to Dragon Quest x Final Fantasy Itadaki Street. Except it's Utawarerumono and includes RPG elements.
Lastly, the game's shop-specific preorder bonuses were revealed. As usual these are sexual fanservice oriented so be careful. We included those with original artwork in the gallery below. Note that some of these bonuses are also alternative costume colors as DLC codes. There are accessories to decorate the playable characters with too. You can check the shop's full list on the official site. If you're planning to import I'm sure you're grown-up enough to handle all that yourself.
The remake of the first game, Utawarerumono Prelude to The Fallen, is currently available in English on PS4 and PS Vita. Its supposed to release on Steam at some point. The second and third games, Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, and Utawarerumono Mask of Truth, are available in English on the same platforms. There's also the action RPG spinoff Utawarerumono Zan, which is loosely based on Mask of Deception. It's only in English on PS4 for now.
All the Utawarerumono main games are localized now. However, this is a niche within a niche so it's likely Dokapon Up Mugen no Roulette will stay in Japan. That would be a huge shame though seeing how cute the game looks.
Dokapon Up Mugen no Roulette is coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on December 10, 2020 in Japan. This Utawarerumono party game was first announced in early August via Famitsu.
Aquaplus previously mentioned multiple Utawarerumono console games are in development following the launch of mobile gacha game Utawarerumono Lost Flag.
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Halo Infinite X Monster Energy Promotion Campaign Starting September 1
The Halo franchise is once again teaming up with a popular drink brand to promote its next game. This time though, it's not mountain dew that folks will be chugging for some extra in-game loot, it's Monster.
This promotion is rather dense and has a few different offers for potential Halo Infinite players. Starting today, you'll be able to find limited-edition Halo Infinite cans of Monster Energy, each with a code on them. Scan three of these codes every month, beginning in September and stretching to the end of the year, and you'll snag yourself an "exclusive in-game weapon."
But wait, there's more. Starting September 1, you can also use your receipts from buying some Monster to earn double XP in Halo Infinite, using what Monster calls a "Bank Now/Play Later" system. By taking a photo of your receipt, going to this link, and submitting photos of your receipts, you can earn points. These points can be used to purchase rewards, although the only reward currently mentioned is double XP in Infinite. From there, players will have to log into their Waypoint account to redeem their double XP. Again, it's not clear what form the point boost will come in, whether it's for an amount earned over a set period of time or for a certain number of games. If this all sounds very confusing, you can check out the rules and an FAQ for the promotion here.
If double XP and exclusive in-game weapons aren't really your thing, there's one last piece of the Halo x Monster promotion – a paid trip to Paris for you and a guest. This is more of a sweepstake, with entries being made every time you send a receipt over to Monster. In the end, ten grand prize winners will receive a seven day, six night trip to France. The entire trip includes round trip airfare, a standard hotel room, and two tickets to a Zero-G Flight Experience. But if all of that's boring and you were hoping for cash, don't worry, you still get a $1000 check. 100 first prize winners will also be selected as part of the sweepstake and will receive a copy of Halo Infinite when it launches, along with an Xbox Series X.
Once again, the Halo X Monster promotion officially begins September 1, and isn't going to be affected by the delay of Halo Infinite.
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Fall Guys is Teaming Up With Team Fortress 2 for New Cosmetics
Since its launch on PS4 and PC earlier this month, Fall Guys has taken off as a big hit. The indie battle royale game has already reached over 2 million players on Steam in nearly two weeks, and developer Mediatonic doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon on finding some creative crossovers for players to enjoy.
The game's official Twitter account has revealed that the next crossover cosmetic item that players can work their way towards earning is the Scout from Team Fortress 2. Complete with his signature hat and outfit, you can earn both parts of the Scout's outfit in the Fall Guys store right now for a total of 10 Crowns.
BONK!
Guess who's coming to the in-game Steam store in a few hours?!?
Better start getting in the dubs so you can save up enough
Thanks @valvesoftware @TeamFortress
https://t.co/tzLe6zEg5O pic.twitter.com/Beq5aro4Be
— Fall Guys
(@FallGuysGame) August 13, 2020
The Scout outfit is hopefully the sign of more crossover cosmetics to come from Team Fortress 2, but we'll have to see if any of the other signature characters from the game will make their way over. Of course, this isn't the first time that Fall Guys has crossed over with other franchises, as we saw with its Half-Life-inspired Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance outfits, and the Jacket cosmetic from Devolver Digital's Hotline Miami. Of course, plenty of fans of the game have been making their own creations online with some fan-made crossovers.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is available now on PS4 and PC.
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Ghost of Tsushima is the Highest Selling First Party PS4 Title in Japan
Sony has put out some absolute banger first-party exclusive titles during this generation of consoles. Their latest, Ghost of Tsushima is the last to join the list and will send the console off in style. The game has continued to sell incredibly well. It has gone on to be the best selling game of July and has broken records in Japan.
Per Famitsu, (via Benji-Sales) Ghost of Tsushima is now the highest-selling first-party PS4 exclusive in Japan. The game reached the status in just over 3 weeks.
Ghost of Tsushima recorded over 330k physical sales in Japan. This passed up the previous record holder Spider-Man from Insomniac.
I loved my time with the game and it certainly deserves credit where credit is due. It has some typical open-world stereotypes you would find in many games of the genre, however, the storyline, gameplay, and overall visuals of the game certainly make up for it. The combat is snappy and switching between different stances makes the player change up certain playstyles. The narrative dives deep into sacrifice, honor, and plenty of other emotions that will tug on your heartstrings. Finally, the visuals. Oh, man. Don't even get me started on the visuals. All I have to say is that you are really missing out on an experience if you do not own a 4K HDR compatible tv and a PS4 pro.
Ghost of Tsushima is currently available on PS4. For those who want to do a little research before picking the game up, make sure to check out DualShockers' official review of the game right here.
Ghost of Tsushima is now the highest selling first party PlayStation 4 exclusive in Japan via Famitsu
It only took a little over 3 weeks
It reached 330k+ physical sales in Japan surpassing the previous record holder Spider-Man from Insomniac. Congrats to @SuckerPunchProd pic.twitter.com/sw0ucaShZU
— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) August 13, 2020
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Oxenfree Devs' New Game 'Next Stop Nowhere' Hits Apple Arcade Today
Night School Studios, the studio behind Oxenfree and Afterparty, just released their latest story-driven game on Apple Arcade. Revealed last week, Next Stop Nowhere got a brief teaser trailer and then Night School dropped more information about the game in a Twitter thread featuring the characters from the game and a few details about them.
Today, following the game's launch on Apple's exclusive gaming platform, Night School finally released a trailer for their sci-fi road trip. Showcasing a lot of the hallmarks of a game by Night School Studios, like branching dialogue trees and small interactive elements to discover throughout the world, the trailer delivers a strong showing for Next Stop Nowhere.
The launch trailer already had me personally very excited for the game (and hopeful that it'll come to a platform that I have access to), but then, Sean Krankel, the founder and creative director at Night School took to Twitter to talk about the various inspirations that he drew for the game. Based on what he said, the trailer's talk about a bounty and its high stakes are only half the story.
Based on a lot of the inspirations he and his team drew, the game is sure to be tinged with comedic and classic feel-good road trip goodness.
inspirations include:
– Grosse Point Blank
– Pineapple Express
– the Millenium Falcon
– Designer Republic circa '96
– sticking your arm out the window on a road trip https://t.co/ZDMzyRgNjT— sean krankel (@seankrankel) August 14, 2020
While Apple Arcade games don't usually release on Andriod, it's not uncommon for them to find their way to PC and consoles, like What the Golf? However, at this point, Night School hasn't said anything about a release on other platforms for Next Stop Nowhere, so if you're looking for a fun, short, text-based adventure game on consoles or PC, you might want to look at some of the studio's other games, like Oxenfree.
The post Oxenfree Devs' New Game 'Next Stop Nowhere' Hits Apple Arcade Today by Charlie Wacholz appeared first on DualShockers.
Final Fantasy and Hiroyasu Shoji, two names I never expected to see together. It's been four months since Final Fantasy VII Remake launched on PS4 now. Unless you're an extremely busy person, you've probably finished the game now. I'm sure even the most implicated health workers or anti-racism activists, quite busy for obvious reasons for a few months now, must have at least tried the game by now. Most of them are definitely gamers and into Japanese games, seeing these are full of political themes developing your empathy and critical thinking of society.
As you played FF7R, you might have been in awe with some of the interior design when exploring buildings. The Shinra Headquarters in particular. You might have wondered what an actual specialist in this field would think about it. Well, now you can get an idea of it. (And a full analysis assuming you understand Japanese).
Japanese news site Livedoor recently published a video featuring internationally popular Japanese Lighting Designer Hiroyasu Shoji, analyzing Final Fantasy VII Remake. The video, for around 20 minutes, goes through some of the biggest environments in Shinra HQ, starting from the underground parking lot.
Overall, Hiroyasu Shoji mentioned that the lighting is done realistically well, and that the designers at Square Enix did their homework.
Elevators and Automatic Doors
One thing Hiroyasu Shoji pointed out multiple times are Welcome Mats. These are floor oriented lighting which gives off a friendly atmosphere, placed in front of elevators and automatic doors. They're everywhere in places such as shopping malls or hotels IRL. He most notably explained it's also in order to make the female customers' jewelry sparkle.
He also pointed out the light which goes all the way of the elevator is a recent thing you see everywhere. "Recent" as in in the last ten years, and it wasn't the case when he was younger. Basically, Hiroyasu Shoji explained Square Enix properly made 2010s stylized elevators for the Shinra HQ in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Shell-like Lighting, Misalignment
Hiroyasu Shoji didn't only have words of praise though, and mentioned this part in particular, seen in the screenshot above, was done sloppily. The shell shaped like lighting there near the ceiling, it's considered lame. He also mentioned that by taking a look at the marks pointing to the center of each concrete block of the wall, you can see that the blocks are misaligned with the lights. He added that in a sense this could be considered "2020-like" though, as nowadays making everything look clean and fitting in perfectly is considered old-school.
Shinra-Developed Vehicles Expo
Another segment focuses on the vehicles expo floor. In a nutshell, Hiroyasu Shoji explained that to make vehicles look cool, you need to avoid lighting them directly, but reflect a lot of light, and Final Fantasy VII Remake doesn't follow that rule well. All the cars have light directly shining on them.
Midgar at Night
Another segment has a view of Midgar at night. Hiroyasu Shoji explained Midgar in Final Fantasy VII Remake looks more like Tokyo than New York, because there are a lot of white and green-like lights, and few orange-like lights. Most highly developed cities nowadays are fully switching to LED, which increases the amount of white light. In the past, we mainly used natrium lamp, which looks orange instead.
Shoji explained the cheapest way to illuminate a city as much as possible these days are white LED. He added Tokyo uses a lot because Japan used lights such as mercury lamps a lot in the past, and always had a preference for white looking lighting rather than natrium lamps. It's also because white makes the atmosphere look less hot during summer nights. I'm also guessing Tokyo has more LED because it has a much higher building turnover rate than New York.
Hiroyasu Shoji: Final Fantasy VII Remake Barely Has Any Lights Coming From Above
One of the most interesting points Hiroyasu Shoji brought up is the overall abundant use of light from the floor instead of light from the ceiling emulating the sun. He explained why that's important using the classic SF movie 2001: A Space Odyseey as a reference. During the scenes in the space station, there's light coming from the side, and when they get to Mars, there's light coming from bottom. It's like it's symbolizing they're getting further from earth, and further from our "normal" relationship with sunlight.
Hiroyasu Shoji explained Shinra HQ in Final Fantasy VII Remake using light coming from the floor always give us this feeling that Shinra is doing something unnatural and should be stopped. This was both hilarious and amazing to see because Hiroyasu Shoji pretty much managed to guess everything Final Fantasy VII is about only from the lighting. When the Livedoor News journalists pointed that out, he explained he never played the Remake nor the original game.
Shoji added you can also feel this with how there are few shadows reflected on the floor, since there's no light coming from above. No shadows diminishes the presence of living beings. Everything feels lifeless.
Lastly, he also praised the lighting in the room showing President Shinra's statue.
Livedoor News: Hiroyasu Shoji Analyses Shinra HQ in Final Fantasy VII Remake
Livedoor News regularly does these kind of videos with highly popular AAA games. A similar one happened months ago with a Japanese castle architecture specialist analyzing the castles in Sekiro. I'd have written about it too if time permitted. I'm not paid enough for this.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is currently a PlayStation exclusive, but will loose that exclusivity in April 2021. The game will most notably get a new cool guidebook in Japan later this year. You can read more on the game with our past coverage, most notably our review.
The post Final Fantasy VII Remake: Lighting Designer Hiroyasu Shoji Analyses Shinra Headquarters, Figures Out The Whole Game by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.
Metroid Prime 4 Is Still Very Far Away Suggests New Retro Studios Job Listing
Metroid Prime 4 is seemingly bordering on Duke Nukem Forever territory. The sequel to 2007's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was announced during Nintendo's E3 presentation in 2017 and has hit roadblock after roadblock in its development ever since. In January 2019, Nintendo released a video titled "Metroid Prime 4 Development Update," in which they announced that the game was restarting development and being given to Retro Studios.
In the time since then, a new job opening of some kind appears on Retro Studios' website seemingly every few weeks, sending fan speculation (and fear) out of control. Today, Retro Tweeted that they were looking for Lead Producer for Metroid Prime 4.
We are looking for a to join us on our journey to develop Metroid Prime 4! #GameJobs #GameDev #GameDevJobshttps://t.co/NWVPLGel3E pic.twitter.com/4hpOgw0Byg
— Retro Studios (@RetroStudios) August 14, 2020
According to the listing, some of the lead producer's roles would be maintaining the pace of development, working with the various departments at Retro, and work with staffing to maintain a full team to work on the game.
Lead producer is far from the only opening for developers at Retro, however. The studio is hiring several project leads, like a lead graphics engineer, a senior level designer, and a lead animator. These openings and other openings, like a concept artist opening suggest that the game likely still has a ways to go before we see anything resembling gameplay.
Even the most optimistic Metroid fans are becoming worried about the game's future, considering it's had such a troubled development period. Since Nintendo canceled the game because it wasn't up to snuff before and because Retro Studios has a very strong track record, the fact that they're making sure they do Metroid Prime 4 right is reassuring, to say the least.
It would have been a great surprise to see Metroid Prime 4 as part of Nintendo's holiday lineup, but considering the game is likely a year away at the very least, here's hoping they have something to show off in the coming months to help the Switch keep up its miraculous sales numbers, like the very heavily-rumored 3D Mario collection.
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