A new Nintendo Indie World Showcase debuted this morning, and it had a little bit of everything. There were Aztec myths, sick tricks, and even FEZ, that precocious little platformer.
In roughly 20 minutes, the showcase ran down a list of games coming to Nintendo Switch as far out as next year and as soon as today. Here's a rundown of everything they showed:
It's been long enough since Forever Entertainment announced it was remaking The House of the Dead 1 and 2 that I was caught totally off-guard when I saw the first remake pop up in a montage during this morning's Nintendo Indie World Showcase. Now that the dust has settled, here's the full-length trailer.
I'm glad The House of the Dead: Remake exists, and I'd be happy to see more rail shooter revivals whenever and wherever that makes sense. That said, I'm trying to reserve judgment on this one until there are concrete details — bullet points like "modern graphics and controls," "true to the original gameplay," and "multiple endings" can't do all of the heavy lifting. There are screenshots, at least.
On Twitter, the HOTDRemake account has been dodging questions about other platforms and whether or not there will be motion controls; the go-to response is "more info coming soon." MegaPixel did confirm a red/green blood toggle, and reiterated that The House of the Dead 2: Remake is happening.
I'm firmly in wait-and-see mode, especially until we know the price. Panzer Dragoon: Remake was $25.
The draw of demakes is undeniable.
As someone who has played pretty much every retro classic to date, the joy of jumping into a fan-crafted demake just to see how they interpret things differently is a mesmerizing feeling. It's especially transcendent when you take a 3D or otherwise completely different game and transpose it onto the 2D format.
That's absolutely what this creator did here with their Zelda: Breath of the Wild demake in the style of Zelda games of old like Link's Awakening. Ohana Studio (who launched their first game on Steam not too long ago) notes that this is "not a full game," and that it's "just a prototype" made out of love for the original Game Boy line Zelda games. If it gets enough support, they might "make a full non-Zelda survival style Game Boy Color style game" out of the concept, substituting in non-Nintendo assets.
It took a bit for today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase to get going, but I immediately latched onto OlliOlli World the moment it showed up. The next skateboarding game from Roll7 looks fantastic — and it's more ambitious than I would've expected. You've got to see these out-there character designs.
According to the studio, we'll be able to customize our skater's looks, tricks, and style while also carving our own path in the wacky world of Radland — literally. The levels have branching paths. That's one way to ease players into the end goal of reaching a hyper-focused zen state with mad combos.
Game director Tom Hegarty says that like the prior games, OlliOlli World boils down to "flow."
The trailer pretty much shows what it needed to at this point. I'm in! One extra note: there will be a separate sandbox mode with procedural levels that players can share using a "Zip code system."
OlliOlli World is coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S from Roll7 and publisher Private Division in winter 2021.
Looks like it's time to returned to the haunted beaches of Oxenfree. Today, during the Nintendo Indie World Showcase, Night School Studio announced a sequel to its debut game, titled Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.
Set five years after the events of Oxenfree, Lost Signals follows a character named Riley, who returns to her hometown Camena to investigate some mysterious radio signals. As you might expect, she finds something a bit stranger than weird airwaves.
Not much more has been revealed, but Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is set to launch sometime this year, for both Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.
Coincidentally, it's also been five years since the launch of the first Oxenfree. If you've yet to check out that excellent narrative adventure, well, now's a great time to do so. Just be sure to grab some tissues for the tears, and maybe keep the lights on for the scares.
Has it been long enough that you could go through Fez again with fresh eyes? I'm at that point and then some — it's been years! The perspective-shifting platforming adventure is coming to Nintendo Switch... today! I love when they're able to pull that off during Nintendo Directs and Indie World Showcases.
The Nintendo Switch version costs $14.99 and it takes up 1.3GB. It's up on the eShop now, if you're so inclined. During the launch window, there's a 10 percent discount knocking the price down to $13.49.
More than the world and puzzles (which I dig), I'm tempted to play Fez again just to sink into Disasterpeace's immaculate soundtrack. It's some of my favorite chill-out video game music ever.
[Update: The show's about to start!]
May is approaching and the summer months of games soon after, but before we get there, there's always some time for indies.
Nintendo announced today that it's hosting another Indie World Showcase tomorrow, April 14, at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT. The live stream can be watched on Nintendo's website or through streaming services like YouTube, embedded below:
The showcase is expected to feature roughly 20 minutes, focused on "fresh and new indie games" coming to Nintendo Switch. And remember, this is an Indie World Showcase; if you go into this hoping for news about Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4, well, I don't know what to tell you, other than you clearly ache for disappointment.
Of course, this will no doubt spur up more anticipation for the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong. There are some other eagerly sought-after indies, like Axiom Verge 2, that would be neat to see again.
The last few seasons of Fortnite have been extremely video game oriented.
Kratos and Master Chief were two headliners from the last go-around, and Lara Croft kicked off this new season of the game. Now, Aloy from the Horizon Zero Dawn series is joining the fray. It makes sense, given the "primal" theme of the season, and that bows are a big focus of the weaponry shuffle.
As announced on the Fortnite blog, Aloy will be a part of the game on April 15, and will arrive with the lore-heavy blaze canister back bling, a spear pickaxe, a Glinthawk glider, a Shield-Weaver wrap, a Heart-rizon emote (which creates a wireframe heart in the same vein as some of the narrative briefings) and a bundle-only loading screen.
Generally, these bundles tend to go for 2,200 V-Bucks (a little over $15). Just like Kratos, if you play the game on PS5, you'll unlock an extra style (Ice Hunter Aloy) for the skin for free If you're keen, you can also play as Aloy and Lara Croft in a team-up mode, which debuts on April 16 at 9AM ET and runs through April 18 at 9AM ET. Aloy will be kitted out with a bow and Lara will sport her dual pistols.
So when is Nintendo getting in on the action? There's some "primal" characters they could choose from. Also, don't forget that there's a perfect crossover in the form of Monster Hunter.
Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn [Epic Games]
Chinese developer Perfect World Games has announced a new mobile title, Code Name: X, with all signs pointing toward the mysterious new game being a spin-off of Atlus' mega-popular JRPG Persona, specifically its 2016 entry, Persona 5.
At first, Perfect World was keeping everything on the hush-hush, releasing an announcement trailer alongside several screenshots. But given the art style, jazzy score, and unmistakable aesthetic, it's not all that tough to figure out what franchise the mysterious new game is part of... Oh also, the artwork files are literally titled "P5." The collaboration was later confirmed by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad.
Details about the game itself are thin on the ground, but the trailer shows a busy and sprawling metropolis, wherein a hooded figure (Joker?) dashes from rooftop to rooftop while an attractive, grey-haired woman (but not Sae Niijima) tracks his every move. While gameplay cannot be ascertained from this clip, the woman's use of GPS to track our hero suggests that Code Name: X is an AR title.
No release date or western localization has been announced for the new game. Code Name: X will be the latest in a line of spin-offs set in the Persona 5 universe, following titles such as Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona 5 Dancing, and the recent musou-lite, Persona 5 Strikers.
Man, Balan Wonderworld.
I mean, once the demo hit a lot of people weren't super enthusiastic about its success. Even when Square Enix announced that there would be changes based on demo feedback, folks weren't hopeful that they'd essentially be able to overhaul the entire game. Cue the Ron Howard voice: "they didn't."
It's a shame, because that lack of polish reflected in both the reviews for the game and in the sales figures, when Balan failed to chart in pretty much every console's top-seller list. Now, Square Enix is pulling the demo, presumably to put all of this behind them. Announced on the game's official Twitter account, the demo will be pulled from consoles at 23:59 JST today, with the Steam version of the demo scheduled for execution on April 15 at 2AM JST.
If you recall, there was actually a small bonus included for demo players, which is going to be detached from the trial going forward. The account confirms that the "trial benefits" will be distributed "at a later date," presumably as free DLC.
Again, it's a shame it all turned out like this. We need more mascot platformers in the industry, and one coming up short like Balan Wonderworld can deter others from creating more. At the end of the day though the quality spoke for itself.
Balan Wonderworld [Twitter] Thanks John!
Naughty Dog, a studio seemingly locked into making Uncharted and The Last of Us releases until the end of time, has closed down internet hopes that it is secretly working on a new entry in fantasy franchise Jak & Daxter.
The fevered fan requests were addressed by Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells in an Academy of Interactive Arts & Science's Game Maker interview, conducted by Insomniac Games' Ted Price and transcribed by news outlet VGC.
"We've had a couple of Twitter campaigns where people have been tweeting us every single day... 'I want a new Jak & Daxter, I want a new Jak & Daxter.' And they aren't just simple 280-character tweets, they have Photoshopped memes and everything they're including on a daily basis, and the effort has got to be significant."
"I hate to break it to them," continues Wells. "We do not have Jak & Daxter here in development right now. We still love the characters and I see what you guys [Insomniac] are doing [with Ratchet & Clank] and that makes me wish that we did, and we would have one in development because there’s still a lot of love for Jak & Daxter in the studio."
[Update: The newest patch for Cyberpunk 2077 - Version 1.21 - dropped this morning on PC and consoles. You can read the patch notes right here.]
CD Projekt RED has reiterated that it is fully committed to fixing, improving, and growing its ambitious RPG Cyberpunk 2077 over the coming years, adamantly stating that the idea of shelving the troubled title and moving on is not even on the table.
"I don't see an option to shelve Cyberpunk 2077," CDPR executive Adam Kicinski said in a recent dialogue with Reuters. "We are convinced that we can bring the game to such a state that we can be proud of it and therefore successfully sell it for years to come."
After years of hype and development, Cyberpunk 2077 finally launched in disastrous fashion in December 2020. In increasingly volatile launch weeks, the PS4 and Xbox One editions of the futuristic adventure were plagued with technical issues - slaughtering the title's reputation, birthing an array of mocking memes, and raising the ire of players, shareholders, and publishers alike. Cyberpunk 2077 would see itself be pulled from various digital stores, as platform holders such as PlayStation refused to be part of the incendiary backlash toward the release.
[In this community blog, Destructoid user Moths delves into why the Monster Hunter series still has so much goodwill after 15-plus years, and why players keep coming back for more without burning out. The hunt can't stop. -Jordan.]
We live in an era of effectively infinite games. Whatever your tastes, it has never been easier to find a game you'll enjoy and to play it. It's true that there could always be more: more variety, more quality, better preservation of old titles. But ultimately the fact of playing games in this day and age is that there is already more than you need in your entire lifetime. And yet they just keep coming.
That can be overwhelming. Presented with such a vast territory, there's an impulse to come up with ways of dividing and traversing it. We create or are presented with niches for ourselves: loyalties, habits, aversions, etc. Shortcuts. Maybe you don't play racing games, maybe you often play whatever happens to be on PlayStation Plus. The zeitgeist is a big one. There's always a handful of games that have enormously more cultural traction than the rest... until they don't. But that's the crux of it: an external force that is able to answer the question "what should I play next?" whenever it is called upon to do so.
Personally, I'm a little uncomfortable with that. For one thing, the games of the moment are usually new, and the industry is such that a game at launch is typically both more expensive and worse than that same game two years later. Coming late to the party has become a smart move if you're more interested in the contents of your glass than you are in the ability to clink it.
Smart speakers can do a lot: control your music, maintain a grocery list, and wake you up in the morning. Now, you can also tell them to start downloading some Halo to your Xbox.
Today, Amazon and Microsoft announced a new Alexa skill that will allow the smart speaker to download Xbox Game Pass games to connected Xbox consoles. It doesn't require any special invocations either—according to a press release, you can just ask Alexa to initiate the download by saying "Alexa, download (whatever game) from Xbox Game Pass" and then link their accounts through the Alexa app.
Alexa can also read off what's popular, what's new or leaving the lineup, and the user can also enquire if specific games are available. I tried it just now with my Echo Dot, and it definitely works.
I don't have an Xbox Series X or S, but if I do ever pick up Microsoft's console, it's novel to me that I'll be able to remotely start downloading Game Pass games by just asking Alexa. In the course of a generation, we've gone from dedicated storefronts to apps and now smart speakers—it's pretty impressive.
More importantly, if you own an Echo device, an Xbox, and have a Game Pass, you can just say "Alexa, download Yakuza 0 from Xbox Game Pass" aloud right now and instantly make your day better.
Dragon Age 2 has had a swerving legacy. It launched to poor critical reception, yet its stories and characters endured in the fandom, and the sequel garnered its own following.
It was also a famously troubled project, with the team having an extremely small development window to work in and an expansion leading into Dragon Age: Inquisition left on the table. It's hard not to wonder what could have been if the studio had been given more time.
Today, just over a decade since Dragon Age 2 launched, several developers who worked on the project are now reminiscing on it and wondering what-if. It largely kicked off with David Gaider, lead writer on Dragon Age 2 and current Creative Director at Summerfall Studios, answering a simple question: "If you could Zack Snyder [Dragon Age 2], what would you change?"
"If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?"
Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets.
We're never going to run out of city-builders and management games, but what about something like Gord? It immediately stands out with its roots in Slavic folklore, a survival-oriented premise, and the ability to head out on quests. This isn't a game to peacefully chill out with, that's for dang sure.
As your settlement grows, you'll have to tangle with threats on multiple fronts: other tribes, freaky beasts, hunger and illness, crumbling sanity, and even monstrous gods, who can grant your people incantations. (I'm willing to do potentially unspeakable acts to earn powerful spells.) Taken as a whole, Gord seems like it'll be in a similar headspace as games like Frostpunk, RimWorld, and Darkest Dungeon.
About those quests — Gord uses an "AI-driven" system, according to Covenant.dev. "Main objectives will guide your gameplay, while versatile side quests and random encounters will send you off into the wilderness to hunt down a legendary creature or fight off a nasty scourge that has infected the region."
I also like the sound of custom scenarios in which "almost anything can be adjusted." That sentiment stems from a keeping-things-fresh-over-time perspective, and also the desire to eventually win with the annoying stuff scaled back; Don't Starve comes to mind. In Gord, we'll be able to change elements like "the level size, the intensity of raids, the environment you'll play in, the types of enemies you'll face, starting resources, and even the severity of weather. Of course, don't forget the Horrors."
Lionsgate is not done casting for its upcoming Borderlands big-screen adaptation. As reported by Deadline, the multi-talented Janina Gavanakar has been added to the movie's star-studded cast, which already includes Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, and Jack Black, among others.
The American-Indian actor is renown for a body of work on both big and small screens, having appeared on TV shows True Blood, The L Word, Arrow, and The Morning Show, as well movies such as 2018's Blindspotting and 2020's The Way Back. Away from the cameras, Gavankar is a noted musician, having recorded many songs for film and television. Despite her stocked resume, video game fans might best recognize Gavankar from her role as Iden Versio, the protagonist of EA's Star Wars Battlefront II.
In Borderlands, Gavankar will be portraying all-new character Commander Knoxx, the daughter of Borderlands villain General Knoxx. Like her father, it does not appear that the Commander is going to be lending our would-be heroes a hand, and will no doubt be raising hell for Lillith and co. in the wastelands of Pandora. It sounds like a role that will suit Gavankar to a tee, and I'm excited to see her in action alongside the rest of Borderlands' rag-tag team of reprobates.
The Mass Effect remasters are coming up pretty soon, and there are some changes in store for Commander Shepard and their intrepid crew.
Last week, BioWare discussed the gameplay changes coming to the trilogy, especially for the first Mass Effect. (Guess some of y'all weren't fans of the Mako?) This week, it's all about the graphics.
The BioWare dev blog details three phases of visual reconstruction: boosting up textures and upgrading the Unreal Engine 3 under the hood; improving assets to reflect the passage of time—Liara, for example—and improving particles and little details, like skin, hair, and eye shaders; re-rendered cutscenes at 4K where possible; and broader improvements to levels.
Some of these are clear tune-ups, like the revised portrayals of series mainstays like Liara, Garrus, and Tali. Others are pretty significant, as locales like Feros look pretty substantially different, and Noveria's lighting has clearly been reworked.
I'm of a few minds about these changes. On the one hand, the updated character models look genuinely fantastic. Ashley and Tali stood out right away, and even though we've seen some touch-ups like Thane's they're still pretty to look at.
Activision is once again in a legal tangle over matters concerning its billion-dollar shooter, Call of Duty. This latest courtroom soiree revolves around the publisher's use of the word "Warzone" in the title of its uber-successful battle royale release Call of Duty: Warzone.
The problem began back in June 2020, when Activision filed trademarks with the U.S. patent office for "Warzone" and "Call of Duty: Warzone" as applied to its free-to-play shooter. As reported by PC Gamer, Warzone - a tabletop-style strategy title that has been using the name since 2017 - has continuously blocked these trademarks. Warzone's holding company, Warzone.com, proposes that allowing Activision to secure the word "Warzone" will hinder the former's efforts to effectively market its wares.
Activision has denied Warzone.com's claim that the trademark would cause "consumer confusion," calling the potential mix-up "inconceivable." Activision notes that both Warzone and Call of Duty: Warzone are entirely different games in entirely different genres. Activision also states that the word "Warzone" is featured in the titles of at least 15 other mobile games, asking why Warzone.com has not taken the same fight up with any of these other, similarly named releases.
Activision was supposed to complete its trademark process in December of 2020 but has received numerous extensions in order to tackle this dispute. Last week, Activision filed a new suit in efforts to bring the situation to a close, requesting that the U.S. patent office be allowed to complete Activision's trademark applications, while demanding Warzone.com recoup Activision's "reasonable" legal costs.
Warzone.
It's been inching close to two years since Riot Games joined the auto-battler genre with its own entry, Teamfight Tactics. The League of Legends take on the burgeoning game type stood out, and in the time since, has become a frontrunner.
With its upcoming set Reckoning, Riot Games is looking to experiment a bit. Rather than rest on laurels, Teamfight Tactics is continuing to play with ideas like respawning units, pieces that cost health, and a giant abomination that gains power as your units waste away.
What caught my eye about Reckoning wasn't necessarily just some new items and synergies for its pieces, though. As an on-again, off-again player of Teamfight Tactics, it's the Lab portion that's grabbed my attention; Riot is testing out new ways of playing Teamfight Tactics, and its first test is the turbo-charged faster game type Hyper Roll.
Discord, the voice chat and messaging service marketed towards gamers, can be an unkind place to women. But so can many online gaming spaces — according to a 2018 study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, women gamers often stay anonymous online or play alone. A more recent study conducted by Casino.org in 2019 found that 57% of women gamers are harassed after other players discover their gender.
It’s harder to stay anonymous on Discord, though. Games and gaming services where voice chat is made integral, naturally, make concealing one’s gender (or perceived gender) a lot more difficult. Although there are plenty of women and girl-only private Discord groups, girl-friendly groups make up only a small subset of what’s available on Discord. Other groups can be darker places, with women experiencing gender-based harassment and sometimes even cybercrime. This is mostly thanks to social media’s tendency to become sludge, as well as Discord’s inability to keep up with the toxicity of its quickly growing platform.
The worlds of Power Rangers and Street Fighter have crossed over before, but Ryu and Chun-Li should feel a little more at home in their latest crossover. The two fighters are coming to Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid as the Crimson Hawk Ranger and Blue Phoenix Ranger.
Revealed over on IGN, the trailer showcases a lot of Ryu's potential combos. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has had some excellent gameplay trailers before, and this one's no different. Ryu's classic moves are on full display, though definitely souped-up for the more over-the-top tag bouts of Battle for the Grid.
Chun-Li appears at the end, mostly just to rock out a Spinning Crane Kick, but it's probably safe to assume her move set is similar to her usual Street Fighter kit. You don't fix what isn't broken, right? Both their looks are based off their appearances in mobile game Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, according to IGN's reveal.
Developer nWay also announced that Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid — Super Edition is coming on May 25, the same day as Ryu and Chun-Li. While both fighters will be available as a pack for $12.50 or separately for $5.99 apiece, they'll also be included in the Super Edition, alongside the previous Season Pass content. (Super Edition will also be available as a paid upgrade to current owners, though no pricing's been announced yet.)
Quantic Dream has successfully appealed against a 2018 ruling in which a former developer sued the studio for unfair dismissal. As ruled by the Paris Court of Appeals, the former employee's accusations have been dismissed. Furthermore, they are now responsible for paying "substantial damages" to Quantic Dream, reportedly in the region of €10,000 (roughly $12,000 USD).
The initial case went to court amidst a slew of articles in the French press, exposing alleged toxic behavior, "bro culture", sexism, and homophobia within the Heavy Rain studio's walls. Specifically noted was the distribution of Photoshopped imagery that presented studio staff members merged with celebrities, engaged in sexualized situations, or dressed in Nazi regalia. The Court of Appeals, however, ruled that none of the images involving this specific plaintiff could be considered homophobic, racist, or degrading toward them.
Furthermore, the court ruled that the plaintiff not only knew about the images as far back as 2015, but that they only complained once another employee put forward their own report about it. The court ruled that this late action showed a degree of "tacit acceptance" from the plaintiff of the images' existence. It should be reiterated that the court isn't saying the images didn't exist, nor that the plaintiff wasn't featured in them, but that the court doesn't believe the plaintiff should be able to claim that their unfair dismissal can be directly related to the images' existence... Press X to side-eye.
Video games can take up some memory storage space, and right now, the PlayStation 5's internal storage is your only option for the console. A new update coming this month is trying to make the storage shuffle experience a little easier.
Starting tomorrow, the PlayStation 5 will be able to transfer PS5 games to USB extended storage from its internal storage, much like it can do with PlayStation 4 games. This will let games move back and forth between the drives, but as the PlayStation Blog notes, PS5 games won't be playable off extended storage.
Though it will be faster to reinstall games from USB extended storage rather than re-downloading or copying from disc, you'll still need to move a game back over to the internal storage when you want to play it. PS5 games also can't be directly downloaded to external storage, although they can automatically update when applicable.
Sony confirms that support for expanded storage through M.2 drives is still being worked on, but it doesn't offer any update aside from it still being on the way.
A few other quality-of-life updates to aspects like in-game chat and the PS5 user interface are on the way, as well as pre-downloads for title updates to games, so the console can grab the latest versions of games while in rest mode.
Surprise!
Remember the Blizzard Arcade Collection? That nostalgia-tinted package that came out in February and added The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne into the mix? Well, like a lot of other retro games these days, it's back!
Blizzard has announced that they're adding two games to the collection: Lost Vikings 2 and RPM Racing. Now, clearly Lost Vikings 2 is a direct sequel, but RPM Racing is also related to one of the original offerings: Rock N Roll Racing. Instead of the decidedly Mad Max theme of the latter, RPM is more of a general racing affair, a project that Blizzard calls a spiritual prequel.
Lost Vikings 2 in particular is near and dear to my heart. It's a great follow-up that expands up on the puzzle plaforming stylings of the original, while adding in new techno-themed wrinkles into the individual mechanics of each character. It does a great job of preserving the core focus of the first game while doing its own thing.
If you own the collection, you'll get both of these for free today by way of an update, and if you don't, the price isn't going up. The whole game is even getting an upgrade too, in the form of a Design Documents Gallery in the museum, as well as a streamer mode for Rock N Roll Racing, with support for four-player local multiplayer and streamable songs.
Capcom has announced that it has completed an in-depth investigation into a major breach of security that befell the publisher in November 2020, which led to the theft of hundreds of thousands of pieces of data pertaining to the developer, its employees, and customers.
In a detailed and forthright update regarding the investigation's findings, Capcom announced that it believes some 350,000 items of personal data were stolen or should be considered "at-risk" in the attack. This includes the addresses, contact details - and in some cases passport numbers - of many of Capcom's current and former employees, as well as its shareholders.
The Japanese division of Capcom is believed the hardest hit in regard to sensitive information loss, with sales reports and other financial information pertinent to the company confirmed stolen. However, despite this enormous data breach, Capcom remains confident that none of the compromised data contains the credit card information of its customers.
Square Enix has announced that the frustratingly clunky PC port of its beloved RPG NieR: Automata will finally receive some much-needed attention, courtesy of a new patch that is currently in the works. Do you believe in miracles? And by "miracles," I mean, "complaints being addressed years down the line."
Released in March 2017 alongside its PS4 brethren, the Steam edition of NieR: Automata left fans bitterly disappointed. Low-resolution textures, unstable frame rate, choppy cinematics, and stuttering gameplay among the laundry list of problems encountered by players. Ultimately, it was left to the community to fix these issues themselves, bringing the PC port to a somewhat improved state with the aid of unofficial mods.
Still, there has been consistent anger vented toward Square Enix and PlatinumGames over the ensuing years, with PC players feeling that they had been simply abandoned now that the cash was in the register. But now, some four years after NieR: Automata's release, it seems that the PC port will finally receive some official love and attention. Although Square Enix is yet to offer either a specific release date or official patch notes, one can assume that help is finally on the way, and will afford PC players the same opportunity to enjoy NieR Automata's somber and evocative story as console owners have for many years.
We will, of course, let you know when more detailed information about the update is forthcoming.
Outriders launched with cross-play. Kinda! Since day one players were greeted with a message stating that the system may not work with certain platforms, but now those issues have been smoothed over, developer People Can Fly confirms.
Taking to Twitter, the official account for the game explains that the Xbox version of the game has been patched to account for the cross-play problems, and that you can now properly cross-play between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.
But there's another lingering issue: inventory wipes. Recently some players have been reporting inventory bugs, and People Can Fly are "continuing to monitor performance and feedback." There are aware of the inventory wipe issue, and are attempting to resolve it both on the server and game-side of things.
Now, there is a silver lining. The studio says that they are planning a "restoration for all affected accounts," which is great news as long as they follow through. Annoying and inconvenient for sure to have to deal with such a big bug, but at least all hope isn't lost.
If you're impacted, you can find new context here. The inventory wipe bug is now the "top priority" of the team.
Outriders [Twitter]
Nintendo has revealed a brand new color variant of its Switch Lite hardware and - mere minutes later - some corners of social media are already getting set to draw swords over whether it is truly the color that its manufacturer claims it is.
Earlier this morning, Nintendo tweeted out images of its brand new "Blue" Nintendo Switch Lite, which will launch on May 25 at a retail price of $199.99. But it seems the internet is less concerned about its price and release date and more focused on whether the new console is - in fact - blue, as many in the gaming community are convinced that the new hardware is clearly purple, with some equating its tone to that of Nintendo's previous little box of wonders, GameCube.
Yes, folks, it's one of those "What color do you see?" deals. Just like "The Dress" back in 2015, people in a bit of a furor over the actual pigment splashed all over Nintendo's new baby. I guess I'm adding to the WaCkiNeSs by writing about it myself. Still, it's been a terrible morning and my head is spaghetti, so you'll all just have to give me this one.
So what color do you see? I don't see "blue" in the common sense of the color, but I definitely see more blue than purple. I guess it's more a sort of Lapis blue... Azure at best. But I still think it veers more on the blue side of the spectrum than the purple side. Then again, if you asked me what color a GameCube is... I'd say purple... What do you think about this, the single most important question facing civilization this hour?
This is what I have become. The Horror.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a hit. It's such a hit that it will probably end up as the number one Switch game of all time, dethroning Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and could hold that top spot forever. So it makes perfect sense that Nintendo is going to try and chase that success.
Speaking to Nikkei (as translated by Nintendo Everything), Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explains how the game got so popular, in fairly obvious terms: "It’s true that our recent growth has stemmed from the need for people to stay at home. Even though (Japan’s) state of emergency is over, people are spending more time at home than before."
OK that makes a lot of sense, but there's a lot to unpack here. New Horizons really tapped into the portable and communal element of the Switch, something consoles can lack on an emotional level. Furukawa wants to tap into that more, explaining: "As games with long lifespans like Animal Crossing become more accepted, we believe this will have a significant impact on future development. We want to provide games that can allow communication between friends and families."
After revisiting A Way Out a few months ago and just wrapping up It Takes Two over the weekend — it was surprisingly long! — it's been tough to muster my usual enthusiasm for other co-op games.
I love teaming up with my girlfriend whenever and wherever our gaming interests intersect, and I know we still have countless hours left on our Year 3 farm in Stardew Valley, which will continue to be our go-to "unwinding" game for the near future. (We still have a few super-expensive purchases left, including two of the four warp obelisks and the Gold Clock, and I guess we're really going for perfection?) Once we've tapped out, I'll be back on my weekend routine of looking for something new for us to play.
A lot of the time, after flipping through stores on multiple platforms and searching in vain for Reddit recommendations, I draw a blank. "This game would be fun... but it's online-only." "That one looks cool, but it's not out for a couple more months." "I don't know when Pikmin 4 or Overcooked 3 are happening."
We either resort to digging out a known favorite (again!) or take a chance on something iffy that one of us probably won't like all that much — or we just do our own thing. It's a sentiment that I think a lot of couples and families can relate to. And while I'll often settle for okay games with reasonably decent co-op modes, I would be thrilled to see more games that follow Hazelight's "co-op only" prime directive.
It's been on the shelves for over a year, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to invite new residents onto its islands. This week, the Switch social sim found its way back to the top spot of the UK Charts, usurping Electronic Arts' soccer sim FIFA 21, which now sits at number two.
In terms of the UK's physical sales, it remains The Nintendo Show. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe pulls in at number three, while the remastered Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury sits just behind at number four. The Switch edition of Minecraft and newly released adventure Monster Hunter Rise are at five and six respectively, while Ring Fit Adventure is still toning tummies at number nine. The remaining three spots are taken up by AAA mainstays Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
There is a part of my head, some reptilian section of my brain, that just loves watching numbers go up. It finds joy in methodically kiting and whittling down enemies, clearing the area of loot, and moving on to the next; like a farming simulator for pillaging and plundering.
Because of that, Diablo should be right up my alley. And while I've enjoyed a fair bit of time with the third installment of the series, I have only the faintest memories of Diablo II and its expansion, Lord of Destruction. Diablo II: Resurrected felt like the right opportunity to revisit those distant blobs of memory, and understand better the reverence that fans hold for this particular dungeon-crawler.
WayForward has announced that the original Shantae will launch on Nintendo Switch on April 22, when the classic platformer will be made available to download via the eShop.
Despite the overwhelming popularity of WayForward's Shantae series, many fans are still yet to play the Half-Genie Hero's first-ever foray into video games. The original Shantae title saw the adorable adventurer sashay onto the Game Boy Color back in 2002. Coming at the end of the platform's lifespan, Shantae really pushed the GBC to its limits, and is considered one of the most technically ambitious titles available on the best-selling handheld. Originally published by Capcom, Shantae sadly failed to find success, having gotten lost between the cracks in the jump from GBC to Game Boy Advance.
But, thanks to this new Nintendo Switch release, Shantae fans will finally be offered easy access to our gal's first magical adventure, as she runs, jumps, and hair-whips her way through Sequin Land, gathering the four elemental stones required to put paid to the plans of the troublesome pirate Risky Boots. Shantae for Switch will include both its original Game Boy Color and "enhanced" Game Boy Advance iterations and, with the release, will see the entire Shantae franchise available for the Nintendo platform. Magic!
Epic and Apple's legal feud over Fortnite is still ongoing, and more details are being brought to light as it carries on. In a new filing, it's shown that Epic is set to lose at least $330 million in minimum guarantees alone.
As reported by PC Gamer, a new filing from Apple (found here) goes into detail over Epic's spending to establish the Epic Games Store. According to Apple's filing, Epic committed $444 million in minimum guarantees for 2020 alone while projecting $401 million in revenue for the year.
Epic also lost $181 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019, and Apple's projections suppose that the Epic Games Store will not be profitable until 2027.
It's already known that Epic has been paying for store exclusives, including spending more than $10 million on Remedy's Control. Third-party games have been selling on the store, but in a breakdown released earlier this year, they made up 37% (or $265 million) of over $700 million spent on the PC Epic Games Store in 2020.
Stop me if you've heard this before.
You're about to square up with a creature in a Monster Hunter game. You just upgraded your weapon and it's fully sharpened. And you've cooked enough supplies and are all packed and ready to go. You step up to the plate, and you get knocked off a cliff or into some other hazard. Yep, sounds about right.
This clip shared by ThomasWiig on Reddit of their tango with a Rathian is so relatable it hurts. That leaping tail cleave sounded like such a good idea on paper, but right at the apex of the jump, the monster roars and basically punches them off a cliff. Undeterred, they climb back up with a wirebug and all the stamina they can muster, and a wing buffet knocks them on their ass again. Classic.
Now there's ways to combat this, as the game offers "roar resist," you can use a Wirebug recovery, and you can approach the monster in such a way that would avoid this sort of situation. But still, with the Wirebug on offer in the game, why not use it to zip around everywhere? Just remember it could go horribly wrong.
I think what makes the video for me is the bone-crunching sounds of pain that the hunter experiences when they fall.
F**k me, right? [Reddit]
According to a new report by StreamElements' analytical website Rainmaker.gg, March 2021 was a record-breaking month for Twitch, as the premier streaming website recorded an incredible 2.06 billion watched hours. This number represents a year-on-year growth of over 100%, suggesting that streamers - or specifically watching streaming - has never been more popular.
For the most part, video games have taken the lead in regards to viewer interest, with Rockstar's crime sim Grand Theft Auto V pulling in around 181 million hours, celebrating its debut at the top of the streaming charts, despite the title's advancing age. This was followed by Riot Games' League of Legends at 143 million hours, and Epic Games' juggernaut Fortnite at 107 million hours.
Look, some people are just born crafty.
My wife built a lazy Susan contraption for us to play the Marvel United board game with, and I kind of just sat there, stunned, the entire time. That deer in the headlights expression is exactly how I'd look if I watched dr_kelga of Reddit hand paint this custom Monster Hunter themed Switch.
The creator says they used stencils, paint, a matte clear coat varnish, and masking tape to finish their project. It's actually super involved, as evidenced by the creation video linked below. They even dissembled and reassembled most of the components!
"Just" the Switch is kind of a misnomer, too. They also managed to tag the Switch dock, as well as a Pro Controller and a Joy-Con Charging Grip. I love the classy photo too, with the wood surface, the Monster Hunter Rise case in plain view, and the sneaky Magnamalo amiibo.
I will probably never achieve this level of crafting nirvana, but I want to. The step-by-step video gives me hope.
I painted my Switch Monster Hunter themed [Reddit]
Sony is in the midst of opening a new unit within PlayStation to focus on mobile output - with hopes of converting some of the biggest PlayStation brands for the mobile market.
As spotted by VGC, PlayStation Studios is currently in the process of hiring a "Head of Mobile" to work at its Californian studios, with the successful applicant expected to deliver a program of PlayStation mobile titles over the next three to five years. The job listing specifically denotes that the studio wishes to see its "PlayStation's most popular franchises" adapted for the mobile market - although no specific franchises are mentioned by name.
The expansion of PlayStation's mobile division comes at a time of change with the industry giant. The first major overhaul happened at the start of April in Japan, when Sony Japan Studio restructured its entire internal development team, shifting most of its focus and resources toward Team ASOBI and its release Astro's Playroom. This restructure has seen numerous Sony Japan alumni leave the studio for roles elsewhere, with some - such as Silent Hill director Keiichiro Toyama - going as far as to open their own studios.
We all know Revali is the best Zelda: Breath of the Wild Champion (before you try to type out your comment, remember how many times you used Revali's Gale compared to every other Champion power), and now he's getting his due in First 4 Figure form.
Yep, the company is producing a PVC statue of the old bird, and although it has "no release date" or pre-order page at the moment, it is confirmed to be coming. It was all revealed via a fairly dramatic trailer (for a statue!), which you can watch below. First 4 Figures is actually calling this part of a "Champions Series," so we'll see Daruk, Mipha, and Urbosa at some point (and Link/Zelda are technically Champions).
Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been such a massive cottage industry for various companies and the crafting community these past few years. Even if you think that someone has been done, you can probably load out the game, find some far corner of the world, and uncover a new craft.
For instance, a Tarrey Town LEGO set would probably go over well. Maybe that's something for the Breath of the Wild sequel to explore!
First 4 Figures [Twitter]
