Raise your hand if you still hold water for Battletoads outside of that GameStop meme. I see...a few people in the horizon!
Wait, am I one of the only ones who played all seven games in the series, including the Tiger Electronics handheld release? Who is this 2020 version of Battletoads for? After playing it, I'm even more confused and delighted.
Contest: Win Blightbound for Steam
In today's contest you can win a Steam Early Access copy of stylish dungeon crawler Blightbound!
I feel like having Devolver Digital as a publisher is something of a pedigree for a game -- it just gives that certain "wow factor" that many publishers can only dream of. Maybe it's the conferences, maybe it's the style...or maybe they just select awesome games. I'm thinking it's the latter.
Devolver teamed up with Ronimo Games to bring you Blightbound, a stylish dungeon crawler available now via Early Access. And since I'm writing this, you know what that means!
Brian Mitsoda 'suddenly terminated' as narrative lead on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
In a somewhat shocking turn of events that puts the future of the long-awaited Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines sequel on shaky ground, narrative designer Brian Mitsoda has been fired with what seems like little warning from the higher-ups. Along with Mitsoda, creative director Ka'ai Cluney was also let go from Hardsuit Labs, the team behind Bloodlines 2.
Mitsoda, who was involved in the original game design, was a bit of a safe harbor in a storm where a lot of fans were worried about how a sequel to the beloved cult classic would turn out. His firing comes in the wake of a previously announced delay that set Bloodlines 2 back to a tenuous 2021 date.
Paradox Interactive, who owns a 30% stake in Hardsuit Labs, issued this statement:
We appreciate, and value, the contributions of Brian and Ka'ai, which were instrumental in establishing the game's storyline and dark tone and have helped to ensure that we are making a true successor to the iconic Bloodlines. We wish them both the best in their future endeavors.
Mitsoda also released a statement, sent in an email to Rock, Paper, Shotgun. The full text follows:
Until recently, I was the Narrative Lead on a videogame called Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 for Hardsuit Labs, Inc being published by Paradox Interactive (which owns 30% of Hardsuit Labs). After almost five years involvement with the studio, I was suddenly terminated on 7/16/20.
That this came as a shock to me is underselling it. I've worked on Bloodlines 2 for almost five years. The story and main cast was initially conceived in my living room. I helped develop the pitch for Hardsuit Labs and helped pitch the project to Paradox in Las Vegas. I've been in charge of the narrative since the beginning, working long days and sometimes weekends to deliver a successor to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and I've never been led to believe that I hadn't succeeded. Very obviously, I have also been involved in the PR and marketing side of things, even though it was one of the most difficult parts for me. I'm a pretty private person – press and crowds tend to heavily trigger my social anxiety (which, if you've ever wondered about the gloves, they are "armor" that make me feel less exposed in situations that trigger my anxiety).
Bloodlines and the fandom of the game mean the world to me. So I lent my legacy with the franchise, my name, and my participation in marketing efforts for the game, even when it was intensely difficult and took a mental and physical toll. This is all because I wanted to do what was best for the game and the team.
The pride in the work, the fan expectations, and the support from co-workers who started out as fans kept me going through this long five years. And I'm incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project.
I was not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production, and to my knowledge, there were no delays caused by the Bloodlines 2 narrative development. I am confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward. When that work will be seen and what form it will take is unknown to me.
It was a pleasure to work on this game and with many people at Hardsuit Labs and Paradox and I'm sorry I won't be able to see it to the end. I spent years on some of the best characters and dialogue that I ever wrote. It's meant a lot to hear from the Bloodlines community and I do hope that what's finally delivered is as satisfying as I intended it to be. Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout the project.
Coming in to fill the role of creative director is industry veteran Alexandre Mandryka. Mandryka has previously worked on the Far Cry, Warhammer 40K, and Assassin's Creed franchises.
It's never good to see two higher-ups in a company go without any warning, especially in the later periods of a project. It hurts even more to know that Mitsoda had poured so much into the project and won't be there to see it finished.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is scheduled for release sometime in 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Brian Mitsoda has been fired as narrative lead on Bloodlines 2 [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
The Call of Duty community finally solved Activision's convoluted Black Ops: Cold War ARG
It started with some locked crates. Inside those, projectors and cryptic slides. Those slides led to-- actually, this goes on for quite a while. It's complicated, there are a bunch of steps, and it took a lot of hard work from the Call of Duty community. Instead of my half-assed explanation, watch this summary from Zombies YouTuber NoahJ456:
You can get this Sea of Thieves ship if you play a bit of Battletoads
Slowly but surely, Rare's old games and characters are getting more nods in Sea of Thieves. The latest cosmetic item, inspired by Battletoads, is a little different – it's a reward for playing the new game (which is out tomorrow, August 20, on Xbox One and PC with Xbox Game Pass support).
If you clear Act One of Battletoads, you'll unlock the Fightin' Frogs ship set in Sea of Thieves.
It looks great! The color choice brings back memories of the Donkey Kong Country 2 level Rattle Battle.
According to Rare, the offer is open "at any time," so there's no rush. Just use the same profile.
While you're sailing the high seas, you might also want to participate in the Summer of Sea of Thieves event. It's running in-game until September 30, and you can pick up rewards for finishing challenges.
Rumored prices for Nvidia's next graphics card are coming in and you better start saving
We're less than two weeks away from Nvidia's unveiling event for its next-generation video cards and the RTX 3090 rumors are starting to fly. Chiphell forum user Wjm47196, who has a track record of accurate leaks, leaked some information in the last 24 hours that makes my wallet weep.
Their message was a simple one:
1399刀起，fe版å†è´µ100刀，24G gd6x confirm
Translation: "Starting at $1399, the fe (founder's edition) version is $100 more expensive, 24G gd6x confirm."
Starting at $1399, the hypothetical price point would put the RTX 3090 at $400 more than what the 2080 Ti – the last release of this kind for Nvidia – launched at. Pile another $100 on top of that for the founder's edition and you're looking at a mighty strike to your bank account.
Another less credible rumor seemingly coming from an internal memo puts the price points even higher. According to TechSpot, the memo lists the price of the 3090 card at ¥13,999 Chinese Yuan. Roughly converted, that comes out to $2,000.
Now, these are all rumors, so the truth might lie somewhere in-between the lines but the outlook is clear: this is going to be a pricey upgrade for PC gamers. It also doesn't help that many people are still reeling from the COVID-19 related work shortages and recession. It's going to be interesting to see how well the cards will sell compared to previous launches.
The good news is that we won't have to wait long to find out the official details as Nvidia's Ampere press event will be held in less than two weeks, on September 1.
Multiple rumors point to the RTX 3090's very high price [TechSpot]
This is how Microsoft wants your Xbox experience to look across all devices
Microsoft has already said that any dashboard refresh for the Xbox Series X won't be drastic. That's because Microsoft has spent the past few years trying to unify the Xbox experience, and that means making sure that everything looks familiar across all devices.
This video is a visual elaboration on that concept. It shows the upcoming UI configuration for the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Android. It's more or less the same because that's the connected ecosystem appeal that Microsoft is gunning for.
There are more interesting details than just the general aesthetic of it all. A significant portion of the video is spent explaining how much faster the Xbox Series X is with regard to general speed. Booting is 50 percent quicker and returning from a game is about 30 percent quicker. The Xbox operating system underwent a streamlining of sorts, as Xbox Experience principal program manager Jonathan Hildebrandt explains that all this snappiness actually requires 40 percent less RAM than before.
There's a new mobile Xbox app in the works too. Microsoft has resigned itself to the fact that consoles aren't great for text communication. This revamped app will better integrate the social component of Xbox gaming onto mobile. That extends to sharing too. Whenever you capture a screenshot or video clip on Xbox, it'll immediately push to your phone so that you can share it to social from there. It's a much better process than my current method which is: Capture media, wait for it to upload to the Xbox Live cloud, open the Xbox app on my PC, download it from Xbox Live to my PC, and then share to social media.
All this should launch in November alongside the Xbox Series X.
Predator: Hunting Grounds' patch 2.0 adds cross-play with friends
The next step on the Predator: Hunting Grounds roadmap is a big one: patch 2.0.
When the update rolls out on August 28, it'll bring quality-of-life fixes and the long-awaited ability to set up cross-play with friends. Currently, PC and PS4 players can mingle if they want (there's a toggle in the options menu), but friends can't invite each other to party up across the two platforms.
IllFonic "hoped this would be in at launch," so it's nice to finally have it fixed. Long term, it's one of those features you really want to have once the wider audience fades and matches become elusive.
Beyond that, "the Classic Combistick and Wrist Launcher from the City Hunter content is now unlockable to everyone; there is a large Fireteam Supply Drop including the OWLF Assault Rifle, the Anti-Cloaking Grenade, UAV Scanner, and the Self Revive Syrette; and a Field Locker Update with three new Predator Masks, a new Fireteam Ballistic Mask, and other new tints and shaders."
IllFonic also announced the arrival of a new map and mode in September, the former of which has a teaser image that you can see below. I feel like "never fight a Predator in a cave" is an unwritten rule.
Also, I'm pleasantly surprised I showed restraint for once and didn't buy the Samurai Predator.
Predator: Hunting Grounds August update [PlayStation Blog]
Mortal Kombat 11 brings klassic skins to Kitana, Skarlet, and Jade
NetherRealm Studios has revealed the second of its trinity of skin packs headed to blood-soaked fighter Mortal Kombat 11. The Femme Fatale skin pack launched August 25 and offers klassic looks to the roster's dangerous kunoichi.
The Femme Fatale pack includes outfits and accessories for Edenian empress Kitana, her BFF and loyal bodyguard Jade, and the mysterious and vampiric Skarlet. The new skins are reminiscent of the looks that Kitana and Jade sported in 1995's Mortal Kombat 3 - all scraped-back hair and revealing bodysuits. Of course, Skarlet did not actually appear in this early iteration of MK, so this pack gives the deadly usurper an opportunity to go a little old-skool.
Microids will co-publish a physical release of Oddworld: Soulstorm
French outfit Microids has signed a deal with Oddworld Inhabitants to co-publish a physical release of Oddworld: Soulstorm, the next entry in the weird and wonderful Oddworld series, on PS4 and PS5.
Oddworld: Soulstorm, a title which has been in development for over two years now, is the sequel to 2014's New 'n' Tasty - which essentially makes Soulstorm a de facto remake of 1998's Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. The adventure will follow the heroic mudokon Abe as he continues to strike at the oppressive Glukkon regime holding him and his brethren captive.
Here's a rumor: Ubisoft is remaking Prince of Persia on PS4 and Switch
Will the long-suffering Prince of Persia fans allow themselves to be filled with hope, knowing that Ubisoft's inaction will once again feel like a dagger plunged into their chest? Will Ubisoft, after a literal decade of inaction, finally return to one of its franchises that's surrounded by (mostly) good will? Those are questions we're left to ponder while we wait to see if this new rumor pans out.
Guatemalan retailer Max has supposedly leaked a listing for an upcoming Prince of Persia remake, although it's not clear which game is being remade. It's said to be launching on PS4 and Switch in November:
Nintendo is bringing the Switch to Brazil but pricing is up in the air
In an out-of-nowhere tweet this morning, Nintendo announced that it's officially bringing the Switch to Brazil. Pricing – and any other specifics – are unknown, but the move will happen "soon."
Greetings to all the Brazilian Nintendo fans out there! We’re excited to announce that #NintendoSwitch will be coming soon to Brazil!
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 19, 2020
Stay tuned to these channels for more info:
Facebook: https://t.co/dQwMX6PHP3
Instagram: https://t.co/Sp4HJFQA63 pic.twitter.com/0Ri5a8Vj6l
Nintendo previously cited challenges with "high tariffs on imports" when it pulled out of Brazil in 2015.
The Switch is far more appealing than the Wii U ever was (and I say that as someone who owned a Wii U from the start and liked it), so hopefully now that Nintendo is officially returning, it'll stick around. There are a lot of factors to consider, and it's a rough time to be launching a console in general.
It's all going to come down to pricing – not just for the Switch itself, but for physical and digital games. I hope this move has a positive ripple effect for folks who already imported the system in the interim.
For the latest updates, keep an eye on the Nintendo Brasil Instagram account.
Nintendo reveals colorful Switch controllers for Mario's 35th anniversary
Nintendo has revealed two charming new Switch controllers, which are being released to celebrate the 35th anniversary of one of the publisher's most beloved franchises: Super Mario.
The first controller is manufactured by fighting game enthusiasts Hori and is designed with younger players in mind. The Horipad Mini sports a chunky, rounded design and features slightly larger buttons, despite being smaller overall than the standard Switch Pro Controller. While it features Hori's typically solid components, this wired pad does not include feature rumble mode or gyro controls.
Super Saiyan Blue is coming to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot in the next DLC
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has been firmly chilling since its January 2020 release.
Since then it's gotten a few quality of life patches (like a time machine to revisit past quests), as well as one major DLC in April that brought Super Saiyan God into the mix. Now, thanks to new information from V-Jump magazine, we know that Super Saiyan Blue will headline the second DLC.
Info is fairly scarce at the moment, but the scan does confirm that both Goku and Vegeta will sport their Blue forms in the DLC. It also seems to be a continuation of the first (disappointing) "boss battle" DLC series: which basically means you're buying a few fights and new movesets.
The entire marketing campaign for this one is pretty weird, as Bandai Namco just recently held a supposedly big streaming event that ended up being one giant commercial. Why not announce big news from some of your big properties there? Instead we're stuck with vague information from an international publication.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot [Ryokutya2089 via Twitter]
Falcom to reveal its next release in August 27 issue of Weekly Famitsu
It seems that Falcom is getting set to reveal a brand new title. The veteran developer will debut information on its next major release in the August 27 issue of Weekly Famitsu.
No info was offered on the mysterious new game, but Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo did state that the title would be developed on a brand new engine and would feature "considerably improved graphics," which somewhat suggests a sequel, or the latest chapter in an ongoing series. Falcom is, of course, renowned for its decades-long legacy of classic RPGs, such as Ys, Dragon Slayer, and The Legend of Heroes.
Falcom's newest release, The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki, will launch in Japan on PS4 August 27.
Falcom to reveal information on next title in Weekly Famitsu [Gematsu / Ryokutya2089]
It's time for another Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event: which also means that it's time to complain about the choice of header image.
This weekend you can participate in a "Royal Tournament," which will allow royalty-based characters to play for spirit-based rewards and in-game points. For extra oomph, you'll be fighting in castle arenas (neat!). Okay, so King Dedede, Princess Peach/Daisy/Zelda, many members of Fire Emblem royal families: that all checks out as they are prominently displayed in the teaser image for the event.
But what about King K. Rool? Is he not considered real royalty? Did Nintendo go all galaxy brain on us and inform us of a new Donkey Kong Country series canon? Also, what about Ganondorf? We'll find out on Friday whether or not the invites got lost in the mail.
SmashBros JP [Twitter]
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown adds new skins for 25th anniversary
Bandai Namco has announced plans to release a free update to its sky-fighting sequel Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown later this week, coinciding with the franchise's 25th anniversary.
The "U.S. Skin Series" update will arrive in-game on August 20 and offers players three new decals with which to outfit selected jet fighters. That way you can look super-duper snazzy while you blow your fellow humans clean out of the sky. Hoo-rah.
The three featured skins include a pirate-style "Jolly Rogers" skin for the F-14D Super Tomcat and F/A-18F Super Hornet, a prestigious "Red Devils" decal for the F/A-18F Super Hornet, and finally a red, white, and blue design known as "Patriot" for the F-16C Fighting Falcon and F-15C Eagle. You can check out the new skins in the trailer below.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
Fallout 76's first big event in a while is now live
Fallout 76 has done a few big things this year: introduce the new Wastelanders expansion and...a battle pass (haha). So the fact that the new A Colossal Problem event just went live is kind of a big deal for the game, as it's the first major update in a while.
After weeks of teases and testing periods, Colossal Problem is now ready to play in Fallout 76. Basically it involves an eight-player instance in the Monongah Mines, allowing your party to tango with the Wendigo Colossus: hence, the "colossal problem," see? To start it off you'll need to head to the Savage Divide zone and nuke the Monongah Mine.
The hotfix that ushered in this event also adds in a few bug fixes (classic), as well as optimizations for the aforementioned event that were fine-tuned in the testing period (so it does work!). In the meantime Bethesda is still toiling away at things behind the scenes, as we wait for the next big update.
As a reminder, the "One Wasteland for All" update is coming in the fall, with "Fractured Steel" arriving in the winter. Not a whole lot of info is known right now outside of the fact that new questlines, daily ops, perk loadouts, expeditions and base-building options are coming.
Hotfix Notes [Bethesda.net]
Go! Go! 5 Jigen Game Neptune reVerse is Nep-Nep's first PS5 adventure
Today is the tenth anniversary of the fun and dopey Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise. To celebrate this Neppest of occasions, Compile Heart has announced the first Neptunia title heading to PS5: Go! Go! 5 Jigen Game Neptune reVerse.
Horizon Zero Dawn gets another swift patch to fix some bugs
In case you missed it, Horizon Zero Dawn came out a few weeks ago on PC, and got a fairly quick patch to smooth out a lot of known issues thanks to update 1.01. Now, Guerrilla Games is moving on to update 1.02, which: you guessed it, brings more fixes to the game.
While a lot of our readers have noted that the game is running smoothly for them, it seems like there's optimization issues and problems for specific rigs: so Guerrilla is course-correcting a bit. The developer is continuing to "track these [bugs] down" thanks to new tools in the latest patches, but as it stands, the cause of several crashes has been fixed in 1.02.
While crash fixes are easily the highlight of the patch, V-sync has also been fixed, as well as out of sync facial animations. Guerrilla is also "aware" of several big Reddit compilation bug threads and is working to address those lists. PC games are sometimes a tricky beast! You only need to look at the comment section of our last news story on this port to see how wildly different experiences can be.
Patch 1.02 is now available [Reddit]
Pokemon Cafe Mix has served over five million customers
The Pokémon Company has announced that mobile puzzler Pokémon Cafe Mix has served up a huge five million total downloads since its June launch for Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms.
The free-to-play title puts players in charge of a Pokémon-themed restaurant, and must "serve" a steady stream of critters via a series of colourful, icon-matching mini-games. Impress your customers enough, and they'll come to work for you - which I'm not sure is quite how the hospitality industry works, but let's just run with it. Of course, as is the case with almost all F2P mobile games, elements such as "stamina," currencies, and microtransactions are present.
Contest: Win Boomerang Fu for Switch or Steam
In today's contest you can win wacky multiplayer title Boomerang Fu!
I like bananas and avocados. I also like boomerangs and power-ups. Lastly, I like when all of these things are unceremoniously thrown together to make a strange, cute little video game. I'm extremely easy to please.
If you like all of these things, too, then you should check out Boomerang Fu. Most websites would tell you to just go buy it, but we here at Dtoid believe in at least giving you the chance to get it free!
Jurassic World looks surprisingly cool in Minecraft
Even if you have no interest in Minecraft's crossover content, you might get a kick out of this trailer for the just-released Jurassic World DLC. The music, the iconography, the classic dinos – it hit me hard. I don't know the last time I watched Jurassic Park, but whenever it was, it's been far too long.
Similar to that recent-ish Pac-Man add-on Chris told us about, Jurassic World is available from the Minecraft Marketplace for 1340 Minecoins. (Quick reminder: it's $9.99 for 1720 Minecoins). The pack includes 21 skins, 60 dinosaurs – some of which are hybrids – and familiar faces from the movies.
"Craft and train dinosaurs, build exhibits, manage the park, and open it for business," according to the listing. "Use vehicles and your team of NPCs to solve disasters or go on expeditions to find dino DNA." As the unenviable park manager, you'll "see how long you can keep the park open for a high score."
All that and a Dr. Ian Malcolm skin. Not bad!
Jurassic World [Minecraft]
Do your part to get Fall Guys' yellow team deleted forever
Yellow team gets fucked. That is the first unwritten rule of Fall Guys, as everyone gangs up in games like Egg Scramble and Hoarders to ensure that yellow team is eliminated. It is hilarious exactly 67 percent of the time.
You can help change the tides of history with relatively little effort. Fall Guys developer Mediatonic has committed to deleting the yellow team if this tweet gets a million retweets:
Resident Evil 7 is getting welcomed to the Xbox Game Pass family
Book a one-way trip down to the bayou where everyone is a monster. It's another Good Get for Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft has kept us in the loop as to the next couple weeks' worth of additions to Xbox Game Pass, and the list includes 2017's reinvention of Resident Evil. On September 3, Resident Evil 7 joins the Xbox Game Pass lineup.
We gave Resident Evil 7 a perfect 10 when it launched, praising the move to first-person and the always-on-your-toes pacing. The majority of the game feels only Resident Evil in spirit, and it's mostly divorced from all of the series' lore baggage. It's very possible to go into Resident Evil 7 as your first mainline Resident Evil game and you won't feel as though you're missing out. It's just an excellent horror game.
There are a lot of quality games coming to Xbox Game Pass before Resident Evil 7 hits on September 3. In fact, a handful of them show up on their launch day. Here's what's coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next two weeks:
Oculus is going to require you to have a connected Facebook account to use its VR headsets
The day many virtual reality enthusiasts feared is nearly upon us. Sooner or later, every Oculus headset is going to require a linked Facebook account in order for it to function.
Oculus messaged this policy change today, and it has a few different angles. For anyone who hasn't yet bought an Oculus VR headset, Facebook will mandate that new users sign up with a Facebook account starting in October 2020. That's the most immediately restrictive of the new terms and conditions.
Anyone who already has an Oculus account will be able to use that through the end of 2022. Facebook won't require that you merge your Oculus account with a Facebook account until January 1, 2023. At that point, Oculus says that your device won't be fully functional without merging, although it wasn't clarified as to how shortchanged those accounts will be. It's likely that some social features won't be available, but it could extend to use of the Oculus storefront and possible incompatibility with purchases that have already been made.
However, that timeline is sped up for upcoming headsets. Oculus says "All future unreleased Oculus devices will require a Facebook account, even if you already have an Oculus account." There's a heavily-rumored updated version of the Oculus Quest that's expected to be announced this fall. (Oculus Connect always takes place in late September or early October, but there's no date yet for this digital-only event.) The new Quest will likely be the first headset that absolutely requires you to have a Facebook account connected to it.
Facebook doesn't even try hiding the fact that it's using this merging as a way of harvesting data. In the FAQ section of the announcement post, it's stated that "We will use information related to your use of Oculus and Facebook for purposes such as showing you personalized content, including ads, across Facebook products. This could include recommendations for Oculus Events you might like, ads about Facebook apps and technologies, or ads from developers for their VR apps." You virtual reality headset will need to be connected to a social media account so that you can be more effectively marketed to.
For anyone on existing hardware, the consolation here is that you have a bit of time before the change is forced upon you. It's also worth noting that you can sign up for an Oculus account without actually owning an Oculus VR headset. Anyone who might get a Rift or Quest in the near future -- and doesn't care for the forced Facebook tie-in -- might want to preemptively sign up now. It'll help you circumvent the inevitable for a few years.
A Single Way to Log Into Oculus and Unlock Social Features [Oculus]
Splatoon's 2's Chicken vs. Egg splatfest returns this weekend
Fans of Nintendo's arena shooter Splatoon 2 will have reason to jump back into battle this weekend, as the popular multiplayer title will re-run the fun on one of its classic splatfest showdowns. And this time, it's a question almost as old as time itself.
Once again, players will be asked to choose an answer to the old conundrum of which came first: The Chicken or The Egg? Everyone's favourite rap-rock duo Off the Hook are in full effect, with Pearl standing in the corner of Team Chicken and Marina backing Team Egg. As always the battle will be decided by a three-point system, with one point being designated to a public vote, and the other two being won via Normal and Pro play battles.
I don't love that Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe was delayed, but I love the way it was announced
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has a history of showing up late to work. Originally announced in late 2018, developers Galactic Cafe and Crows Crows Crows aimed to push Ultra Deluxe out the door in 2019. Then it was delayed until the first half of 2020. Now it has been delayed again.
Ultra Deluxe, like a lot of other video games, won't release in 2020. That much was messaged earlier today when the developers announced that it's being pushed back yet again, this time to the first quarter in 2021. However, they made efficient use of resources, proving their value to any middle managers who are watching.
Here are the two Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe delay messages:
Persona 5 anime begins streaming on Funimation today
If you enjoyed Atlus' blockbuster JRPG Persona 5 and thought "Y'know, I'd love to see this exact same story again, but told really breathlessly and not quite as well," then you're in luck, as Persona 5 the Animation joins the Funimation streaming service today.
All 26 episodes of the 2018 anime are available to watch via Funimation, along with the "Dark Sun" and "Stars and Ours" special episodes. Viewers in North America and Canada can check out the entire series with a choice of both its original Japanese or new English dub. The latter sees the original cast of the video game stepping back into their respective roles as Joker, Ryuji, Haru, Morgana and Lady Ann, et al.
Deathloop won't be a launch window PS5 game after all
If you were expecting to play Deathloop this holiday season on your shiny new PlayStation 5 or your beefed-up PC, there's a change of plans – the first-person assassin game is launching in Q2 2021.
Arkane Lyon shared the news on Twitter today, citing a need for extra production time to "bring Deathloop's world to life with as much character and fun as you've come to expect from our team."
"The health and safety of everyone at Arkane Lyon remains our top priority. As we've adjusted to work-from-home, we found that delivering this new and exciting experience, at the polish and quality level that defines both an Arkane game and a true next-gen experience, is taking longer than normal."
This admittedly isn't as high-profile of a delay as Halo Infinite, which feels sorely needed on Xbox's part, but it stings. With the way the next-gen launch landscape is shaping up, I could have pictured people who missed Dishonored still taking a chance on Deathloop in 2020 because it's here and it looks cool.
"While we know this is the right decision for Deathloop, we share your disappointment, and apologize for making you wait even longer," Arkane said. Remember the Before Time? I miss the Before Time.
@deathloop [Twitter]
Baldur's Gate 3 is starting Early Access on September 30
It won't be much longer before we're chatting up squishy Intellect Devourers.
If you're into Larian Studios enough to want to show up for Baldur's Gate 3 on day one, rough edges and all, we now have a release date: the Early Access launch is set for September 30 on PC and Stadia.
The Early Access date was announced during a lengthy Panel From Hell with creative director Swen Vincke, senior writer Adam Smith, Wizards of the Coast's Chris Perkins, and host Geoff Keighley.
At launch, the Early Access build of Baldur's Gate 3 will have five Origin characters – Astarion (Elf/Vampire Rogue), Gale (Human Wizard), Lae'zel (Githyanki Warrior), Shadowheart (Half-Elf Cleric), and Wyll (Human Warlock) – as well as the option to create your own if that's more your speed.
The game's first act is "approximately 25 hours of self-contained content." In a press release, Larian said to expect 80 combat encounters, 45,980 lines of dialogue, and 146 spells and actions, just to name a few figures. As for the Early Access time frame, the current estimate is "at least one year."
The recommended specs – Intel i7 4770k / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, 16 GB RAM, and Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB / AMD RX580 – are "subject to change" and "might decrease over the course of Early Access."
There's going to be a special Chinese Nintendo Direct just for Ring Fit Adventure this week
Nintendo is bringing out everything but the kitchen sink this summer: and that sink is a standard Nintendo Direct! We've gotten a mini Direct earlier this year, as well as a Nindies Showcase today, and now there's going to be a Chinese Direct just for Ring Fit Adventure. Huh?
Yep, despite the fact that Ring Fit Adventure arrived all the way back in October of last year; the little fitness game that could became an unlikely phenomenon due to the current global situation, and it seems like Nintendo still wants to capitalize on it.
According to a Weibo translation by Chinese Nintendo, the Direct will mostly deal with the release date of Ring Fit Adventure in China, as well as information on where to find it and a general rundown of the game. In other words, the likelihood of DLC announcements or information that anyone would find relevant elsewhere in the world is low.
That said, the fact that this exists at all is pretty good news for Ring Fit Adventure fans. Nintendo clearly cares about this IP and it seems like it's here to stay.
Ring Fit Adventure [Wiebo via Chinese Nintendo]
Indie producer fans the flames of Firewatch movie
It might be time to check the batteries in your trusty walkie-talkie, as Campo Santo's intriguing indie hit Firewatch is once again being courted for a live-action adaptation.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, indie producer Snoot Entertainment - previously responsible for 2018's Blindspotting - has expressed interest in the acclaimed game, with hopes of adapting its tale of isolation, exploration and mystery into either a film or TV series. Snoot Entertainment's Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder will co-produce the project alongside Campo Santo's Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild-inspired RPG Genshin Impact is out next month
When Genshin Impact was first announced. it made waves as one of several games that decided to ape a recently released Zelda game: in this case, Breath of the Wild.
Over time people slowly saw it become its own thing, and now it's getting ready to launch and make its mark on the world. Publisher miHoYo just confirmed this week that Genshin Impact will be fully released on September 28, on the Android, iOS and PC platforms. As a reminder, the game is still in the works for PS4, and will be "revealed at a later date." There is zero talk of the Switch version in that same announcement date post.
I'm very wary of the free-to-play scheme, but so far the aesthetics and the soundtrack have me intrigued. We'll find out just how playable it is beyond the existing betas (that sometimes play softball with monetization) soon enough. Cross-play and cross-progression between the trio of September 28 versions could be a good enough concession, though.
If you're interested, you can pre-register here.
September 28 [Genshin Impact]
A Final Fantasy XIV player was randomly handed 999 eggs to eat, and it became a massive event
It started with a simple tweet: "Logged onto FFXIV and some guy gave me 999 eggs and asked me to eat them. I'm down to 685. On Marlboro [sic] if you want to come watch."
If you play Final Fantasy XIV and have access to the Malboro server, this was a call to action. Everyone and anyone who's played XIV already knows the place from the background: Limsa Lominsa (my favorite capital city!). It was only a matter of time (after some RTs) until a crowd started to form.
Amazingly, Twitter user RubberNinja actually chronicled the entire thing, complete with the growing crowd cheering him on while he slowly ate every egg. As a note: you can eat however much food you want in FFXIV (which provides a small temporary buff to your stats), you just won't benefit from stacking food. This was done purely for the thrill of it. The alleged egg dealer took to Twitter afterward to jokingly apologize for making them do this; later vowing that "Marlboro will become known for our eggs."
This is partially why people love Final Fantasy XIV so much. People will just tweet "check out my house, it's at [x]" and folks will come in droves. Producer Yoshi-P and his team smartly have expanded a ton of elements of the game that facilitate these sort of wacky adventures, and over the course of many years, those efforts have paid off.
RubberNinja [Twitter]
Everything that happened at today's August Indie World Showcase
Today's Indie World Showcase just wrapped up: did you enjoy it?
Nintendo book-ended the big things: a Hades Switch port from Supergiant Games at the start, and an Untitled Goose Game multiplayer update at the end (which will be coming to other platforms too). A few other interesting things are sprinkled in too, like Takeshi and Hiroshi (which was actually released on the Apple Arcade earlier this year), as well as several other games that are coming today.
You can find a full list of every title announced or dated during the stream, as well as a breakdown of games that were shuffled into the very-quick-moving sizzle reel.
Untitled Goose Game is getting multiplayer for free next month
As part of the "one more thing" announcement from today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase, Untitled Goose Game made an unlikely appearance, taking over the show at the last minute.
The reveal was simple: two geese?! How can this be?! The implications are obvious. Yes, Untitled Goose Game is getting multiplayer. While it was confirmed on the Nintendo stream itself, developer House House's official site lists the Steam and Itch release coming on September 23, along with the co-op update. In the description for the official trailer (below), House House doles out a bit more info beyond the scope of the showcase. Evidently you can "play through the entire game with two players." Rad!
Also announced at the end of the stream: there's going to be a physical version of Untitled Goose Game on Switch, which you can view below.
Supergiant Games' Hades is coming to Switch, will offer cross-save with PC version
Kicking off the Nintendo Indie World Showcase today, the stream was frontloaded with a bigger announcement: Supergiant Games' Hades is coming to Switch.
Previously announced for PC and currently in a very lengthy early access period (since late 2018 to be exact), Supergiant is bringing the roguelike Greek God action romp to Nintendo's portable. The best part? When it does arrive it'll have cross-save support, so all of the time you spent with the PC version thus far won't be wasted. You gotta love that feature!
Right now the only date we have is "this fall." That fits, because the PC version is still slated for the "third or fourth quarter."
Fall Guys turns brandwagoning into charity bidding war
If there's one thing big brands know how to do, it's jumping on the coat-tails of the latest viral smash. Mediatonic's Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is no exception. Since the super-fun battle royale title launched last fortnight, a host of major retail brands have taken to social media to squeeze their logos and colour schemes into potential Bean skins.
In a smart turn of events, Mediatonic has come up with a smart way to take this new-found attention and use it for a good cause. The developer has set up a bidding war for any brands interested in being featured in Fall Guys. Brands can put forward a monetary bid and the brand declared the highest bidder in a fortnight will then be immortalised as an in-game skin.
The money raised by the final bid will be donated to UK charity SpecialEffect, who offer support and equipment to help disabled and vulnerable people enjoy video games. For more information about the organisation's efforts to make gaming more accessible, visit the official SpecialEffect website.
Sensibly, Mediatonic has noted that it reserves the right to refuse any bid should it come from a brand deemed unsuitable or offensive for the Fall Guys audience. One of the brands that has already fallen to this ruling is adult gaming developer Nutaku Games, whose entry - though admittedly quite cute - was considered a little naughty for the family-friendly title.
Fall Guys is available now on PS4 and PC.
Fall Guys pits brands in bidding war to win in-game skin [DualShockers]
It's not quite a Direct, but Nintendo is streaming an Indie World showcase soon
[Update: The Indie World showcase begins in around 20 minutes. Be sure to tune in below!]
Where's the big summer Direct? Well it hasn't happened yet. It may never happen. But until then, we'll get plenty of side shows.
Announced this morning, Nintendo will air the next Indie World showcase tomorrow, August 18, at 12PM ET. It'll run for "roughly 20 minutes," and will provide "information on indie games coming to Switch."
As a reminder, these streams are very low key and mostly focus on known games, as well as vague date windows. If you want to get an idea of what type of announcements you can expect from one of these, you can view a full recap of the March 2020 Indie World stream here.
You can watch it directly below when the time comes, or at the Indie Showcase landing site!
Ikaruga model kit edition will be coming west on PS4 and Switch
Nicalis has announced that the Japanese physical release of Treasure's iconic shmup Ikaruga will be headed west this fall. Pre-orders for the limited set are now live over at the official Nicalis store.
New Neptunia project for 'new hardware' to be revealed tomorrow
There are a lot of unanswered questions pertaining to the next generation of gaming platforms, but we can finally put one of the most important, crucial inquiries to rest. Yes, Nep-Nep will be making an appearance in some fashion on next-gen consoles.
Compile Heart has announced that it plans to reveal a "new development" in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series tomorrow, August 19. Incidentally, this date represents the tenth anniversary of the franchise, which began with the release of original JRPG Hyperdimension Neptunia and has gone on to spawn several sequels and spin-offs, alongside a catalogue of cute memes.
The new project will be revealed as part of a "Compile Heart TV" live stream, which will broadcast sometime in Japan's evening hours. No further information regarding platforms, release date, or whether this new development was a straight sequel, a VR title, another spin-off, or something else entirely. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. NEPPU!
Neptunia new development for new hardware to be announced [Gematsu]
The publisher of TERA, as well as Dark Crystal and Stranger Things games, is shutting down
En Masse Entertainment, widely known as the North American publisher of TERA (formerly TERA Online), is shuttering.
The news was announced on the TERA Facebook page, as the publisher explained that they had "begun the process of discomfiting the business of En Masse Entertainment" yesterday. They're focusing on helping out their team now, but will announce more information on their current array of products "in the coming weeks."
As a note, TERA will continue (as well as Closers) because it spans far beyond the scope of En Masse. Korean-based Bluehole Studio is ultimately at the helm of TERA, with three other publishers in league with them beyond En Masse handling worldwide publishing duties. En Masse even confirms that "support will continue."
Even if you've never heard of En Masse, it was kind of a big deal to a lot of people. TERA has been in operation since 2012 in North America, even moving to current-gen consoles in 2018. The publisher also handled several games that are still in operation, as well as handling one-off publishing duties for titles like Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Stranger Things 3: The Game. En Masse even had their own launcher!
You can find the full statement below.
TERA [Facebook]
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is a 'layer across the whole game'
Frontier Developments is starting to open up about Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, the next step in the space sim's ongoing adventures. In this "early 2021" expansion, you'll be able to ditch your ship for a bit of otherworldly on-foot exploration. Better yet, you'll be able to scan alien vegetation and sell the data.
I recently spoke with a pair of developers working on Odyssey to try and fill in a few of the blanks.
Art director Jonathan Bottone called Odyssey "one of the largest updates where we've taken the technology that we had originally, reworked it based on the simulation, and created an even more immersive experience than before." Players have been losing themselves in Elite Dangerous since 2014.
Odyssey is a visible new entry point for the long-running game but "not at the expense of the existing player base," according to lead designer Gareth Hughes. Frontier is sticking to the "fundamentals" of Elite. "For us, it's combat, trade, exploration, and all the blurry bits in between that merge," he said.
"It's 'How can we take those things from the space game and transpose those into on-foot so it doesn't feel like we're making a compartmentalized addition?' It feels like a layer across the whole game."
Planetary exploration will be a matter of "How far can I go before my suit energy starts to run out? Am I going to be able to make it back to my ship? Am I going to be ambushed while I'm out there?"
"We're playing around with how heat, gravity, and radiation will affect the player," said Hughes.
"We're still balancing that stuff. It has to be enough of a threat without suppressing your ability to actually go out and explore. It's a really fine balance to make these environmental factors meaningful without them affecting the gameplay loop so severely that it's no longer fun."
Whatever it takes to fill in Codex entries, I'm probably in. They'll claw away at my mind.
Aside from your pilot's scanner – a tool used to "identify organics in your locality on the planet surface" and extract "genetic information that can be sold back at port" – I had to ask about outposts.
Hughes told me that human settlements are "populated by the factions you're used to seeing." You can accept missions from NPCs, trade with them, "massacre them," play the role of pirate – the usual. Elite Dangerous "doesn't tell you who you have to be and when you have to be that."
Players will also be able to disembark at ports. They're intended to be "social hubs where you can meet other players, find mission givers that you might not otherwise experience, and create a safe space where pilots can meet and do piloty things," according to Hughes. "The social element is important."
I'm curious to see how on-foot combat shapes up – it wasn't shown during the remote press event – and how well Frontier will manage to keep planets feeling distinct from one another given the scope of Elite in general and this DLC in particular. Odyssey seems like a challenge, but it's one worth taking on.
Contest: Win Dreamscaper for Steam
In today's contest you can win a Steam Early Access copy of surreal action-RPG Dreamscaper!
It feels like forever since we've given anything out around here. What's it been, like three days? Let's fix that by giving out copies of Dreamscaper, which just hit Steam Early Access. That'll scratch the itch!
Planet Coaster: Console Edition has keyboard and mouse support if you really need it
I wasn't worried about how Planet Coaster: Console Edition would fare on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but if I had been, a recent live hands-off showing from Frontier would've helped convince me.
The visual fidelity was there, and while I only saw a theme park in its early, not-too-crowded stage of life, Planet Coaster didn't show any worrisome performance blemishes in a build running on Xbox One.
I also saw some new character-driven tutorials (which reminded me of Planet Zoo) and the reworked-for-gamepads control scheme (which looks like it'll click within the first hour once you get the contextual buttons down). One of the highlights was the up-close, first-person coaster-building tool.
Frontier "rebuilt the UI from the ground up" in an attempt to "make the basics super accessible and still retain all the intricacy of the tools," according to lead designer Andrew Fletcher. "We had a good experience with Jurassic World Evolution and bringing that to console and PC at the same time," he said. "That kind of showed us that there was an appetite for management games on console platforms."
On that front, Planet Coaster: Console Edition will come with far more pre-built creations "so that newcomers can more quickly put a park together," it'll support mouse and keyboard – "you can just plug in and out and it'll switch on the fly" – and there's a Frontier Workshop for sharing user content.
You can browse content like parks, coasters, shops, and scenery items. You can even follow creators, rate items, and edit them. Frontier "built up a whole sharing platform" to "foster the community."
Next-gen consoles were an "ideal opportunity" to "really go big," said game director Gary Richards.
He added that if you buy Planet Coaster on PS4 or Xbox One, "all that content and all your save games and everything you create in those versions will be upgraded to the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X version when you then upgrade your console. There's no reason not to buy it. Everything will transfer across for free."
With the way these console ports are shaping up, I sincerely hope Planet Zoo is next.
The next Batman game is probably getting revealed tomorrow
Oh, Warner Bros sure does love a good tease, huh? Now that it has two DC Comics games in the hopper, the teases are coming fast and furious. The latest one points to an imminent reveal.
A new verified Twitter account has popped up with the handle @r3dakt3d. The bio for this edgy l33t-speak account reads #DCFanDome. It only follows two accounts, WB Games (the publisher) and WB Montreal (the developer). It has a URL with the same "r3dakt3d" branding. This site simply says "We have been expecting you. 8 [August] / 18." That's tomorrow.
If you do some link chasing from the site, you'll find an Instagram account with this tagged photo:
Battletoads has a bike achievement that will drive you hopping mad
The Turbo Tunnel was the end of the road for most Battletoads players. The infamous bike stage -- only the third level in the game -- was so difficult that most people never progressed past it. It was like running into a brick wall both literally and figuratively.
The Battletoads that launches this week probably won't have anything so notoriously punitive. Developers generally want players to finish their games nowadays. There's a bike level though because paying tribute is important. And there's an achievement tied to it that might ruin some friendships.
Xbox Wire released most of the Battletoads achievements today (save for five secret, probably story-spoiling ones) and "Live and Let Drive" sticks out like a sore thumb. You'll need everyone to stay alive on bikes for 5 straight minutes in three-player co-op. Jordan's input on this challenge is that he played the bike level at a show with another journalist and they "died a lot." However, Jordan did not have the familiarity, memorization, and practice that you and your friends will eventually have. I'm confident you can do it, even if it requires finding more talented friends.
Here are the Battletoads achievements. With some luck, skill, and perseverance, Pimple and Zitz won't be the only things poppin'.
Learn about the sexier side of Skyrim on this episode of Podtoid
I imagine one of the most entertaining parts of building an epic video game is building up the world players will be exploring. There are many different ways to do this, and in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you can find a lot of information about the inhabitants of this world the old-fashioned way: in a book. You can find out about the history of the land, as well as some saucier little details you might not expect.
That's just one of the topics on this episode of Podtoid. Charlotte, Dan, Occams, and CJ talk Skyrim, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, IKEA furniture, Epic's lawsuits, Galaxy of Terror, and the Xbox Series X launch. All that, plus you shouldn't point a gun at your dick, on Podtoid Episode 455.
Hitman 3 is 'making some changes' to Elusive Targets and dropping Ghost Mode
As the "dramatic conclusion" to the current Hitman trilogy, you'd probably expect Hitman 3 to maintain most of the side modes from the last game, especially given IO Interactive's trajectory with this series. That said, there are a few removals and changes – some of which will affect Hitman 2 players.
In a blog post, IO Interactive outlined Hitman 3's modes:
- Campaign: "A globetrotting adventure to sprawling sandbox locations."
- Elusive Targets: "The stakes are high and the clock is ticking" but the developers are "making some changes to the Elusive Target formula that we'll reveal at a later date."
- Escalations: "Expect your gameplay skills to be pushed to the max as new elements are thrown at you in each stage of the contract."
- Contracts Mode: "Choose your own targets, choose how to eliminate them, and then make it all happen."
- Sniper Assassin: "Can be played in existing maps as a single-player experience only."
Ghost Mode, Hitman 2's one-on-one competitive multiplayer mode, won't be back for Hitman 3. Going a step further, IO is shutting down the Ghost Mode servers for Hitman 2 on August 31, 2020, and "taking all of those learnings onboard for what we do in the future with regards to multiplayer."
If you're stressed about unlocking the Phantom Suit, heads up: it'll be "added as an unlock in Hitman 3."
Similarly, IO Interactive is planning to sunset the co-op servers for Sniper Assassin in Hitman 2 "before the [January 2021] launch of Hitman 3." The team says it'll "share an exact timeline and a solution to the mode's multiplayer trophies in the coming months," so there's some silver lining at least. A smidgen.
As for PC VR, "what I can tell you today is that Hitman 3 will include PS VR support at launch." Uh huh.
HITMAN 3 - Game Modes [IO Interactive]
