Mike Bithell Is Apparently Announcing His Next Game Very Soon
Mike Bithell and his team are behind games like John Wick Hex, Thomas Was Alone, and Subsurface Circular. Bithell has also recently put out a fun podcast series called North Star Rising. However, it sounds like we might see what the team at Bithell Games is up to next very shortly. On Twitter, he's teasing an announcement next week. There aren't any hints about what the game might be, but it's definitely a story worth paying attention to.
Hmmm.
Think we'll announce a new game next week.
— Mike Bithell (@mikeBithell) September 18, 2020
Each of Bithell Games' release has felt incredibly different from each other, outside of the two Circular games. However, the two constants are super stylish visuals and solid storytelling. So, while we know nothing about their next game, we can at least expect a cool-looking game with a story worth seeing.
One potential game that could be interesting is if they plan to do something with North Star Rising. The podcast's run ended back in May, so it would make some sense if they were adapting it into a game. Especially if it's something shorter and more experimental. I'd also be fine if they explored someone else's IP as they did with John Wick Hex. That game is great, so I'd love to see what they do with something else.
Of course, that's all merely speculation. With zero hints in the tweet, all we can do is guess at what they might be up to next. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like we'll have to wait much longer to see what Mike Bithell and his team are cooking up next. Make sure to check back next week to see what's coming.
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Amazon Says it May Not Be Able to Satisfy All PS5 Pre-Orders at Launch Due to High Demand
Remember when Sony's Jim Ryan said merely 36-hours ago that it was planning to have more PS5 units available at launch than it did of the PS4 back when it released in 2013? Well, that plan seems to be turning out, uhh, not so great as of right now.
In what has become the latest development in our long, national PlayStation 5-related nightmare, retail giant Amazon has said that it might not be able to satisfy all of the pre-orders for the PS5 by the console's launch date. In an email that went out today to seemingly all of those who pre-ordered the next-gen console via the retail site, Amazon said, "We're contacting you about your order of PlayStation 5 Console to let you know in advance that you may not receive this item on the day it is released due to high demand." The statement ended by saying Amazon will "make every effort to get the item to you as soon as possible once released."
As someone who pre-ordered their own PS5 through Amazon, I have one thing to say: this sucks! I always felt like this was a possibility when I locked in my own PlayStation 5 on Wednesday night, but this just makes myself (and I'm sure thousands of others) nervous as can be as we approach launch day. At this point, I guess I'll be looking to jump ship and lock in a pre-order at another retailer, assuming that restocks come through.
The PS5 is set to arrive later this fall on November 12 and will retail for $399 and $499. Hopefully, if you end up sticking it out with your own Amazon pre-order, it'll get there on the system's launch date.
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Super Mario 3D All-Stars Could Be The Start of Something Bigger for Mario Fans
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is releasing today, where it will be the first time Switch owners will be able to play Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy in two or more console generations. Despite that, fans are upset that this collection has Super Mario Galaxy 2 missing from the lineup, especially because it is a direct sequel to Galaxy. While it is an odd omission, I think it is because Nintendo has more plans for Mario in the future, with a number of signs that suggest it to be a possibility.
In good ol' Nintendo fashion, the company is making the three-game bundle available until March 31, 2021 on the Switch eShop, with a limited amount of physical copies available. It's gotten to the point where the collection has sold out on Amazon, and other retailers are canceling pre-orders due to the lack of physical copies that Nintendo is providing (classic Nintendo). Of course, this is upsetting many, but I think there is more at play over at Nintendo than what we think.
With the All-Stars collection being available for a limited time, I believe that Nintendo will eventually release each title separately for a higher price on the eShop, with plans to release Super Mario Galaxy 2 somewhere down the line. With Super Mario 3D World releasing in February of next year, Galaxy 2 and 3D Land will be the only 3D Mario titles that won't be on the Nintendo Switch. I think Nintendo is planning to make both games on the platform a reality. Granted, as of right now what Nintendo is doing with releasing the collection for a limited time is scummy at its best, and all I'm doing at this point is theorizing. Nintendo is known for making odd business decisions in the past, but I feel like there is a major plan and this is the first step.
While Super Mario 64 did get a re-release and–arguable for some– definitive edition of the game on the Nintendo DS, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy will be ported to a new console for the very first time (this is not including the Virtual Console version of Galaxy on the Wii U). Even though Nintendo is releasing Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Mario's 35th anniversary, the fact of the matter is that by the end of February, there are going to be five 3D Mario titles on one singular Nintendo platform, which is insane to think about. The most we ever had before that was two back on the Wii with both Galaxy titles.
The Switch is a major success and Nintendo knows it, as it currently has the potential to outsell the Wii by the end of its life cycle. They're seemingly releasing an upgraded model sometime next year, so the Switch isn't going anywhere anytime soon and I would be dumbfounded if whatever Nintendo's next console ends up being somehow doesn't play Switch games. I think that they're trying to get all of the 3D Mario games on Switch so that they don't have to worry about bringing them to future consoles anytime soon.
I could be giving Nintendo too much credit, by having too much faith in them doing something that would be such a huge win for Mario fans and all gamers alike. But even with Nintendo's history of odd decisions, I just can't see them releasing these iconic titles for a limited time and then take away the option of purchasing them after six months. Call me naive if you will, but at the very least, I'm happy that so many gamers will be able to play these cherished games, some for the first time even if Nintendo only sells them for a limited time. Nintendo doesn't get a pass and could have been more transparent about the situation, but I have a feeling that these won't be the last 3D Mario games making their way to the Switch.
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Cyberpunk 2077 Official PC System Requirements Revealed
CD Projekt RED shared a bunch of new details about Cyberpunk 2077 during the latest episode of Night City Wire just a few hours ago. Soon after the stream ended, the official Twitter account of the game revealed the minimum and recommended system requirements for the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077.
According to the tweet, you are going to need an Intel Core-i5 3570 or an AMD FX-8310 processor assembled with an Nvidia GTX 780 or an AMD Radeon RX 470 graphics card and 8 GB of RAM to be able to run the game at the lowest preset. The target resolution for the minimum specs hasn't been specfied. The intersting part is that you can play the game on Windows 7 x64 as well.
C:>systeminfo /u 2.0.7.7cyberpunk /p ******
Loading Processor Information…
Loading Memory Information…
Loading Video Card Information…
Saving data to: c:cp77hardware_requirements.info
Display now? y/n
Y pic.twitter.com/bhfDa51gkd— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) September 18, 2020
On the other hand, for playing at the highest preset without Ray-Tracing, you are required to have an Intel Core-i7 4790 or an AMD Ryzen 3 3200G processor along with a GTX 1060 6G or a Radeon R9 Fury GPU and 12 GB of RAM. The official specs for playing the game with RTX-on is yet to be revealed.
Cyberpunk 2077 will also require 70 GB of free space on your hard-drive or SSD, which is a fair amount compared to most of the big open-world games launching lately.
During the third episode of Night City Wire that aired a few hours earlier, we got to learn more about Night City and some of the unique features that make it look alive and breathing. Furthermore, we received a quick look at all of the gangs and crime families operating in Night City, including Valentinos, Voodoo Boys, 6th Street, Moxes, Maelstrom, Animals, Tiger Claws, Wraiths, and Aldecaldos.
Cyberpunk 2077 is set to be released on November 19th for Xbox Series X and S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, Stadia, and PC. Hopefully, the game will no longer be delayed by the developers.
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Cyberpunk 2077 Latest Trailer Details the Gangs of Night City
The third episode of CD Projekt RED's Night City Wire went live less than an hour ago, revealing new details about Cyberpunk 2077 and its various gangs.
Aside from giving a quick tour to Night City and all the details that developers have put in there to make it feel like a real, living city, the new stream also provided a quick look at all the gangs that own different districts of Night City.
First of all, we got to know Maelstrom, a street gang using any cybernetic weapons and body parts to have the upper hand when it comes to fights and shootouts. We've already met them in the first extended gameplay footage from Cyberpunk 2077 when V tried to make a deal with them over a robotic weapon, but everything went south in a blink of an eye.
The next gang is Valentinos, we haven't heard much about them so far. Operating in Heywood, Valentinos is a gang formed mostly by Hispanic people living in Night City. They have some strict values and bounds within the gang that makes them a special crew in the city.
6th Street is probably the biggest rival to Valentinos, as per Jakob, that wants to wipe them out entirely. The gang is home to some crazy smugglers, who seem to be very skilled when it comes to driving and melee combat.
In the case of hacking and cyber-blackmail, you are not going to find anyone better than Voodoo Boys. They are the most skilled netrunners in Night City and have a great focus on breaching the Blackwall, a security system for the cyberworld that avoids them from gaining huge control over everything in the city.
That being said, not everything can be solved by Netrunners. When you are in the middle of a battlefield in the city, you should probably be like Animals if you want to make it out alive. Known for their strong, armored body, Animals is the best if you need a muscle in Night City.
Tiger Claws, the home of Asians in Night City, is another gang that uses some unique weapons for fighting. They probably own the most agile melee weapons of Night City.
Moxes are probably the coolest gang in the city. They take care of bars and clubs in Night City, but they do have enough power to confront any rival gang. They are the last gang living inside the city, but there are people who live in Badlands, outskirts of Night City.
Wraiths and Aldecaldos are two gangs of Badlands that operate out of Night City, but they have their own baits, fights, and rivals.
Cyberpunk 2077 will be out on November 19 for Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Stadia, and PC.
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Remothered: Broken Porcelain is Like Horrific Hide-and-Seek
When I first loaded up our preview build for Remothered: Broken Porcelain, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into. At least from a story perspective. No, I haven't played the original game that this follows up. Largely, because I'm a massive weenie. Basically, unless I can convince a friend to play with me and hold my hand, I'm going to struggle to finish most spookies. However, I still love horror games. I usually have to watch them on YouTube so I can cover my eyes when something scary is coming. No, it doesn't make sense.
Anyways, I thought I'd watched a playthrough of the original game Remothered: Tormented Fathers. Quickly, I released that wasn't the case. The build started off with a quick rundown of what happened in the first game. I had an immediate sense of "new phone, who dis?" It wasn't that the short explainer wasn't helpful, it was just hard to go from "I think I know this story," to a big text dump with nothing I recognized. That said, after doing some wiki reading, I think I mostly have it. Or at least, I have as much you possibly can with a tale this wild.
I say all this because I think most people are going to play Remothered as fans of the story. From a gameplay standpoint, Broken Porcelain doesn't seem to do much new in the genre, at least in the two hours I spent with it. However, the plot threads that it weaves out are intriguing. Even as a series newbie, I was pausing the game to go read the wiki to try and find out what exactly was going on.
The build starts with you playing as a young girl named Jen, who is a very important person in the Remothered franchise. I won't spoil who she is. All you need to know is that she's been kicked out of her all-girls school and is sent the Ashmann Inn. At the start of the preview, she meets with the Inn's owner and is sent to clean up a bathroom. Truly, a hero's journey, this.
Here is where things get a little murky for me, story-wise. Once I got up to that room, a cutscene started, but, this being a preview, there are still some bugs. Obviously, I'm not going to judge a preview off of one bug. The devs still have plenty of time to iron things out. However, the bug I got, unfortunately, made me skip this cutscene. So, I have no idea what sets the events that follow in motion.
That said, I can comfortably say something happens with a mirror. And then you're following the Inn's caretaker as she delivers some room service to a random vent. You open the tray. Then, some kind of werewolf creature swipes the "food" out of nowhere. And finally, the caretaker turns into a corpse-lady covered in maggots. It's uh, really something.
From there, you're on a mad dash to find a way out of the now locked upstairs while trying to avoid the mean lady. Because, if you don't, she'll stab you with scissors. Sure, after she stabs a few times you can stab her back with your gardener's shovel that you presumably sharpened while hiding in a cupboard. But mostly you just run away from her bloated, bleeding face.
Here's the thing, I don't play a ton of horror games that aren't Resident Evil because, again, I'm a scared baby. However, one of my least favorite types of horror games are the ones where you're constantly running and hiding from a stalker. A great comparison for this gameplay is something like a modern Clock Tower. That's a series I respect but have literally no interest in playing.
The saving grace for Remothered: Broken Porcelain is that you can craft different distractions that let you better control where your aggressor goes. This lets you more easily maneuver around environments. I can place a crying baby in a corner, hide in a chest, and then slip past the lady once she goes to check it out. It's an easy-to-use system that gives you some extra agency. Instead of always reacting, you can take some of the action into your own hands.
Hopefully, the team continues to expand that system as you go. Early on, it was pretty easy to manipulate, and pretty quickly any fear I had of ole maggot-head was gone. Granted, the focus firmly seems to be on the story. So, you don't want to make it too hard. That said, I'd like a bit more challenge as the game progresses.
On the other side of gameplay, Remothered's early hours has some fun puzzles that flow together well. They are a bit linear so far, but it's easy to see them becoming much complicated and interesting. Plus, there are several features the team is touting that I didn't see in my time with the game. So, the pieces are certainly there for some fun areas to explore.
All of that being said, I'm not sure if my time with Remothered: Broken Porcelain has convinced me I actually want to play it. Don't get me wrong, if you're into these type of games, it's probably going to be, at worst, fine. The story is all over the place, but in a way that I want to know more. And once they polish some more bugs up, that run-and-hide gameplay could be exactly what you're looking for.
As for me, I'll likely look for a playthrough to watch on YouTube. This time, I'll make sure to actually watch it.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain launches for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 20. That gives you plenty of time to finish up the first one if, like me, you haven't had a chance to explore the Felton residence.
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Cyberpunk 2077 Gives Us A Great Look at Night City in Latest Trailer
CD Projekt Red dropped their third Night City Wire update for Cyberpunk 2077 today. It included some great looks at both the gangs and the world of Night City. We've seen the city several times before this, but today the team is fully pulling back the curtain. Not only did they spend a sizeable chunk of today's update showing Night City off, but they've also opened up a new website that lets you really dive in. Check out the trailer below if you missed it.
Cyberpunk 2077 is chasing a completely immersive world. To do that, they've built up a massive city with several districts to get lost in. And the variety of visuals between each environment is pretty incredible. Obviously, you're always going to know you're in a future city; however, each looks distinct.
I really appreciate the new site they put up. Not only does it give some intriguing details about the city, but the aesthetic is very much what I'd expect from a cyberpunk website. The intrusive pop-ads just fit the idea of a future hellscape internet to a T. Also, can we take the law they have in Night City where there's no paid parking anymore? That sounds like a dream.
Cyberpunk 2077 continues to impress with all of its pre-release materials. Fortunately, after several delays, we don't have to wait much longer to finally check it out. The game launches on November 18 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It should come to Stadia later this year and will hit PS5 and Xbox Series X sometime in 2021.
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Resident Evil Village is Rumored to be Struggling to Perform Well on PS5
Of all the next-generation third-party titles that we have seen so far, Resident Evil Village might be one of the more exciting games set to hit the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Despite looking largely great based on the trailers we have been shown for the title so far, new rumors indicate that Capcom might be having some issues with the game's development on one platform.
Over on Twitter recently, user @AestheticGamer1, who is also known as Dusk Golem, said that based on what they have heard about Resident Evil Village, the eighth mainline installment in the series is having some difficulties when it comes to performance on PS5. The "insider" says that Capcom's work on the Xbox Series X and PC iterations of Village have largely gone well as the developer has moved to transition its work over to next-gen systems, but PS5 is still having problems. Even though the RE Village itself isn't announced for current-generation platforms, Golem purports that Capcom is even considering making it a cross-gen title.
(6/7) of RE8 is actually having a lot of problems. The next-gen improvements they're making work fine in the PC & Xbox X versions, but are really affecting the PS5 version. They're debating to step down on the affects & features, trying to figure out what's going on here, & with
— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) September 17, 2020
Obviously, what is being expressed here needs to be taken with a massive grain of salt as the rumors cannot be verified directly. That being said, Dusk Golem does have a decent enough track record when it comes to previous leaks and other bits of information surrounding Resident Evil Village that it could be worth giving him the benefit of the doubt. Even with that being true though, they have also been accused of manufactured lies in the past, especially at the expense of the PS5.
And even if this is true in the case of Resident Evil Village and Capcom is having issues with working on the game for PS5, that might not be true whatsoever across the rest of the video games industry. In fact, many other devs around the globe have done nothing but praise the PlayStation 5 since its reveal earlier this year. This situation with Resident Evil Village could very well be a one-off case.
Regardless of what this could mean for the future of the game's development, Capcom will surely find a way to rectify any of the issues that it might be having internally on PS5 before Village ever sees the light of day.
Resident Evil Village is set to launch at an undetermined date in 2021 and will be heading to Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PS5.
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Trump Administration Eyeing Riot and Epic Games Ties to Tencent After Banning TikTok and WeChat
The U.S Government is scrutinizing game developers with ties to Tencent, the Chinese tech giant with a diverse investment portfolio, including Activision, Bluehole, Ubisoft, Paradox and Blizzard.
This comes hot off the heels of today's news that the Trump administration will be banning ByteDance's TikTok and Tencent's WeChat from mobile app stores this Sunday. Both services are used by over 100 million people in the United States.
According to a newly published report from Bloomberg, the administration is now asking gaming companies to "provide information about their data-secrutiy protocols involving Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings LTD., people familiar with the matter said."
Tencent is the world's largest gaming company. It completely owns League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot, and has a 40 percent stake in Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite. The US Treasury Department has sent letters to various companies with ties to Tencent asking them to send over data regarding security protocols and how Americans' personal data is protected.
It's not entirely clear what could come of this situation. If the Trump administration decides that companies like Epic and Riot should be treated the same as WeChat and TikTok, the two, among others, could be forced to seek U.S ownership or be banned from the country. Efforts to do so with TikTok have been fruitless – a deal was in the works for Microsoft to purchase the video-sharing app, but fell through. With a September 20 deadline approaching for the app to find a US company to transfer over to, it's entirely possible that the app will be outright banned.
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Perhaps the most well-known creator within Ubisoft, Michel Ancel announced today that he is ending his 30-year venture within the video games industry and will be moving on to pursue other passions.
Ancel took to Instagram today and revealed that he is turning his focus to that of wildlife. The creator behind titles like Rayman, Beyond Good and Evil, and Peter Jackon's King Kong said that his next pursuit "takes place in the real world" and will focus on animal sanctuaries.
You can find Ancel's post about the matter right here:
While the announcement is somewhat of a shock, the biggest lingering question for many in the wake of this revelation likely involves the status of Ancel's current project, Beyond Good and Evil 2. Even without Ancel around to help guide the project, BG&E2 will continue its development at Ubisoft. Ancel noted that the development team on the project has been autonomous for awhile now and that the game is "going super well."
Perhaps more interesting though, Ancel also confirmed that work on WiLD, the long-dormant open-world title that was revealed nearly a decade ago, is still alive, too. Much like Beyond Good and Evil 2, Ancel stated that the team working on WiLD has been indepedent from him for a bit at this point and that work on the project is looking good. Ubisoft hasn't publicly talked about WiLD in five or more years, so the fact that the game is still alive is actually pretty shocking. Perhaps we'll hear more about it soon enough
Our best goes out to Ancel in his future pursuits.
The post Ubisoft's Michel Ancel Announces Departure from Video Games, Development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 and WiLD Will Continue by Logan Moore appeared first on DualShockers.