Today's Nintendo Direct announcement event was the first since the launch of Nintendo's Switch console, so more than a few gamers were hoping more games would be added soon to the system's thin launch library. While players won't be showered in new titles, a slew are coming in the next few months, hopefully enough to tide them over until others launch later in the year.
Source: Nintendo
Along with all of the crazy news and release dates from the recent Nintendo Direct, somehow this announcement fell under the radar. During the Japanese Nintendo Direct, Senran Kagura director Kenichiro Takaki expressed his interest in the system, notably its HD Rumble, and announced that a new title, Senran Kagura Refure (or Refle, or Shinobi Refle, as the direct translation is up in the air right now), is in the works.
But the best part? The second half of this video is one of the better -- officially endorsed by Nintendo -- things I've seen in a while.
[via Gematsu]
Bethesda must be awfully confident in Prey. In the months leading up to launch, the publisher has been plenty active marketing the game through trailers and preview events. The most recent move is something you do only if you're able to put your best foot forward.
On April 27, eight days before release, Prey is getting a free demo on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (but curiously, not on PC). The demo will feature the first hour of the game, likely ending with a specific incident rather than the trial running on a timer. It's not clear whether progress will be saved for folks who buy the full game.
Demos aren't necessarily rare these days, but this kind of demo doesn't really happen too often. Most trials are for multiplayer games, usually disguised as "beta" events. Or, as Bethesda did recently with Dishonored 2, a demo might release well after the game has launched in an effort to capture a second wave of sales.
So, Bethesda putting out a demo for a singleplayer-only game before release is noteworthy to some degree. It probably means, at the very least, that the opening sequence is strong and engaging. Zack previewed this and his impressions were positive. You'll have to pay to find out if the rest of it is also up to snuff (or, just wait for reviews to hit).
Prey Demo -- Play the Opening Hour [Bethesda]
Refunds for digital games have been a pretty dour situation for a long time. When Valve announced it was finally implementing returns for Steam purchases, it was a big win for digital marketplaces. As for console marketplaces, though, you've basically had to prove your case before the idea of a refund would even be entertained. It wasn't impossible, but the hoops you needed to jump through were ridiculous.
That won't be the case in a few months for Xbox users. According to a Reddit post, the newest Xbox Dashboard preview has a feature for "Self-Service" refunds. This allows you to issue a refund for any purchase provided you've played less than two hours and its been 14 days since purchase (the same policy Steam has). Everything is automated, so you won't need to wait for approval.
The obvious exceptions include DLC and season passes. Microsoft also notes that "certain" Windows 10 apps won't be eligible for refunds (probably Office 365, that piece of garbage). Microsoft also warns that refunds can be rejected if they believe a user is abusing the system, so you won't be getting free demos out of this.
This is great news, even if the policy is a bit strict. Having some kind of recourse for shoddy purchases or flat out bad games is a bonus. I'm just curious how things like "Gold" or "Limited" editions will work where the season pass is included in the purchase. Also, I'd love if we could get a digital return that doesn't automatically give me marketplace credit in lieu of returning my money.
I went into today's Nintendo Direct thinking it would highlight Arms, Splatoon 2, and maybe even a few small news nuggets. The presentation did cover that ground as promised, but it also went over a ton of release dates for upcoming Nintendo 3DS and Switch games. Let's get right into it.
3DS
Switch
All this, and we still have E3 2017 in two months.
The Nintendo Switch's detachable Joy-con controllers already have decent battery life, but if you're looking to game for even longer sessions, Nintendo has you covered. Today the company announced the Joy-Con AA battery pack, a pair of detachable grips for the wireless controllers that let users extend their longevity with off the shelf batteries. Oh, and you'll be able to buy the detachable controller in neon yellow soon, too.
If you're already sold on Splatoon 2, the date to remember is July 21, 2017.
Nintendo shared that release date and also a first look at a new mode, Salmon Run, during today's Direct presentation. This is a four-player mode in which players fend off waves of gnarly salmon creatures while collecting and depositing their precious eggs. On paper, it seems a bit "been there, done that," but in execution, I'm hoping the horde mode concept has that special Splatoon edge.
And yes, there will of course be new amiibo on the same day.
These three amiibo (and the existing ones produced for the original Splatoon) can store your weapons, outfits, gear, and settings for easy access when, say, you're playing Splatoon 2 at a friend's place. They'll also sometimes hand out "special gear" for your Inkling.
If you were hopeful that the Nintendo Switch's Splatoon 2 Global Testfire event was indicative of an early launch, have a seat: today Nintendo announced that the game's official release date as July 21st. That's smack dab in the middle of the Summer launch window Nintendo promised when it revealed the game back in January -- but at least you'll be getting plenty of new content for the sake of the wait. According to this afternoon's Nintendo Direct, Splatoon 2 will launch with a new PvE game mode and a ton of new Amiibo functionality.
Nintendo Switch titles ARMS and Splatoon 2 headlined today's Nintendo Direct presentation, but they weren't the only games with news to reveal. The studio has a solid lineup of games coming to the 3DS this year.
Source: Nintendo
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition lands on May 11th, bringing the world's most popular sandbox to yet another gaming platform. Minecraft on Switch supports the Pro controller and up to eight players online, or four locally in split-screen mode. Plus, it comes with the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack, which throws classic Mario characters and locations directly into the game.
Today's Nintendo Direct has let loose approximately 80 release dates for Nintendo Switch and 3DS games. I'm but one man! Have mercy! That said, one date I'll definitely want to keep track of is June 16, 2017 -- that's when Arms, Nintendo's long-armed fighting game, lands for the Switch.
On that same day, Nintendo is releasing a "Neon Yellow" Joy-Con and Joy-Con strap.
That name is not a lie.
Arms -- a fighting game from Nintendo that's essentially a mix of boxing and a shockingly violent Slinky exhibition -- is set to hit the Switch on June 16th. Nintendo revealed the game's release date during a Nintendo Direct live stream today.
More Zelda amiibo? Yup, more Zelda amiibo.
Nintendo is putting out a trio of Link figures based on Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, all of which will be available on June 23, 2017.
If you've had your fill of that franchise after the Breath of the Wild line, there's also the long-awaited Super Smash Bros. amiibo for Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta on the way. Your eyes don't deceive you! There are two forms of each amiibo (some only at "select retailers") and they're all releasing July 21.
I'm glad I'm not a collector.
Speeding right through today's Nintendo Direct, the company has announced a July 28, 2017 launch for Hey! Pikmin, a game we've seen footage of before but didn't have a name for until now. Essentially, it's the standard series formula but reworked to fit into a side-scrolling portable adventure.
On the same day, Nintendo is putting out a Pikmin amiibo:
I'm not super enthused about the game itself, but that toy. I need that toy.
I miss morning Nintendo Directs. I mean, I guess evening broadcasts make sense for the west coast, but even on the east coast a lot of people are still at work at 6PM ET, and some in Europe are going to bed. Scratch that, a lot of west coast folks are probably at work too. Nintendo, bring back morning Directs!
In the meantime you have to deal with Splatoon 2 and Arms tonight, with the added tease of "some" 3DS content. Feel free to watch it below and share your thoughts! Having played both I'm definitely more excited for the former, as I don't have a lot of people locally to play with for the latter -- plus, although I had fun with it at a local preview event, Arms wasn't exciting enough to make me want to rush out and buy it on the spot.
Remember when that guy married Nene from Love Plus? Hibiki Works does, and they're now using virtual reality and a real wedding chapel in Tokyo to have you tie the knot with one of the three girls in its latest erotic dating sim, Nitzuma Lovely x Cation. Players will have to win over either Yuki Isurugi (long black hair), Aiko Kurihara (short brown hair), or Nono Naruse (blond hair), before the virtual marriage.
In the digital age, even love is expedited. Though the game releases on April 28, the ceremony takes place on June 30. Grooms will need to dress into a proper tuxedo once they arrive, followed by donning the virtual reality headset and proceeding into the private wedding with the help of a wedding coordinator. It appears any number of grooms may apply, so you're out of luck if you thought you could keep a girl all to yourself. Then again, is it right for us to force these girls into marriage, or even program them to fall in love with whoever engages with them?
44. That is how many different games were named by Destructoid writers in their top 10 lists. 44 games, of all different genres and types, our writers deemed excellent enough to include in their vote for the Destructoid top 10 games for the Nintendo Wii U. For a console that only had a lifespan of about four and half years, 44 games ain't too shabby, especially when some of those games can last you well over a hundred hours.
Yesterday, I told you about games #10 through #7 of our list. Today, we continue with four more that defined the Wii U and stood out as some of the best titles on it or any other system.
Spring sales for PC gamers have intensified this week as more retailers join the fray. In fact, a new round of deals brings us brand new low prices. Conan Exiles, the open-world survival title, is now 35% off at only $19.54, while Mass Effect: Andromeda is now clocking in at 32% off (yes it was released less than a month ago).
These deals are courtesy of Green Man Gaming, who has introduced a new coupon code during checkout to add an additional 5% off discount for almost everything site-wide. Earlier this morning, we also saw Bundle Stars jump-start its 2017 Spring Sale with great prices on Endless Space 2, and even yesterday's release of Bayonetta on PC.
Five Top Picks from Spring Sale
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GMG Spring/Easter Sale
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Hotline Miami was an instant hit upon its release in 2012. Mixing a unique style with gratuitous violence and a self-reflective story, the game asked players to question why they were so willing to murder in video games all the time. Was it something to do with a damaged psyche or was it more animalistic?
While the sequel failed to live up to the original, not many other developers have even attempted to tackle the same style of gameplay. We’re definitely seen overhead shooters and brawlers before, but nothing that captures the intense difficulty and careful planning that defined the Hotline Miami experience. Team Shifty has taken notice, though, and is looking to up the ante.
Being sold on the idea that this is Hotline Miami-like, Mr. Shifty basically apes the gameplay from Dennaton Games’ brawler and introduces teleportation. Why, exactly? That doesn’t matter; you’ve got goons to beat up!
Nintendo's ludicrously vague patch notes for Breath of the Wild have led fans to start testing out various things to figure out what a "more pleasant game experience" actually means. In the case of patch 1.12, it looks like Link will have to actually pay for his arrows. According to numerous people, the infinite arrow exploit (that I had no idea existed) has been removed from the game.
Before hand, you could stand just out of reach of an enemy archer and have them continuously shoot arrows at you. Since you can retrieve arrows from the ground in Breath of the Wild, this allowed Link to accumulate however many arrows he needed. While I kind of noticed this when I played through the game, I never thought to farm them out. Looks like you won't be able to anymore as the game only keeps around 20 arrows on the ground.
Along with that, Wolf Link has received a bit of a debuff. The idea behind the amiibo was that you had to conquer the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD to power-up your companion to 20 hearts. For some reason, scanning the amiibo was automatically spawning Wolf Link with 20 hearts, so that has been fixed. Now he'll default to three or spawn with however many hearts you actually finished that bonus cave with.
While I can understand Nintendo fixing the error in the code, I don't know how this makes Wolf Link more "pleasant" to use. While I was very happy to have him in my game, he often resulted in me screwing up my stealth plans or just being totally useless against bosses like Hinox and Talus. Blindly attacking doesn't work, you stupid dog! Why not fix his AI?
Whether or not performance issues have been resolved further remains to be seen, but it looks like these changes are related more to gameplay exploits. Ah well, we can't have fun getting around things forever.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild's new patch removes infinite arrow exploit [Eurogamer]
Atlus may have effectively banned in-depth streaming for Persona 5, but that won't stop people from turning arguably the most anticipated JRPG of the last few years into a meme machine.
In the few days since the game's release, in fact, the game's gone so viral you'd think no sharing features were disabled at all, if not for the phone-quality screenshots most folks are forced to take. For my money, people taking photos of their TVs makes me feel almost nostalgic for the days before every piece of hardware we played on came with built-in recording and sharing tools.
Anyway, we've also taken a tiny sampling of some of our favorite #content, arranged for your convenience below.
A warning: I've tried to remove all plot spoilers from the roundup, though the truly spoiler-sensitive may want to shy away if they absolutely don't want to see anything from the game proper.
Rick and Morty fans, you've got a week to get VR-ready for the series' debut in the virtual realm. Adult Swim and Owlchemy Labs, creator of Job Simulator, announced today that the long-awaited VR title, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, will land on April 20th (4/20, of course). The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive game puts you in the shoes of a Morty clone -- which means you should be prepared to be in constant danger. You'll be able to explore Rick's lab, the family home and, naturally, alternate worlds. And yes, it looks like there's lots of Job Simulator DNA in there.
Ever since day one of the consumer VR rollout, I've been playing EVE: Valykrie off and on. It's still one of the best virtual flight simulators out there, and it's been over a year since launch.
Starblood Arena, a brand new PlayStation VR joint, could have stood to take more cues from it.
Overall video games sales in Japan took a dip this week, and the only significant new release had poor performance. Despite opening in the top 5, LEGO Worlds failed to eclipse even 12,000 sales. The only other new title to rank is a pet game, who just sneaks into the top 20 with 3,631 units.
A possible cause for lower sales and lack of major titles releasing this past week could be due to the new season. Cherry blossom trees began their week-or-so-long bloom around the country last week, which coincides with the new school/working year in Japan. That is no accident, as the blooming cherry blossoms (sakura) signify new beginnings, and thus is when school years begin, people enter new jobs, and as a result many move. I figure it must play a factor.
For Microsoft, the future of computing isn't just virtual reality -- it's "mixed reality," the company's term encapsulating AR and VR experiences. That started with HoloLens, but that device costs $3,000 and is targeted at developers. But Microsoft has something else in mind for consumers: $300 VR headsets from PC makers like Dell and HP. Until now, the closest we've come to Microsoft's mixed reality vision was by touching (but not using) a Lenovo headset. That all changed last week when I put on Acer's Windows 10 headset.
Late last year, Nintendo partnered with San Francisco security firm HackerOne to attempt to pay out folks who discover vulnerabilities in the 3DS firmware (and subsequently, Switch, after it launched). Although they won't explain what part of the sliding scale of $100 to $20,000 that they were paid, HackerOne confirms that three hackers have been "thanked" (read: paid) for their services since last December.
The vulnerabilities that Nintendo is looking for is game dumping, copied game execution, save data modification, inappropriate content for children, kernel takeover, privilege escalation, low-cost cloning, and security key detection. The relatively low amount of successes is probably a good thing for Nintendo? Unless hackers are ignoring the program entirely, of course -- but upfront payment amounts would probably dissuade those who assume that Nintendo would pay out the bare minimum each time.
HackerOne [Nintendo]
Microsoft's Project Scorpio console promises to be seriously powerful compared to the Xbox One, but what good is all that power if your games don't take advantage of it? You might not have to worry too much. The company has dished out details on its Scorpio developer kit, and it's evident that creators will have a relatively easy time making use of the 4K-capable system. To begin with, it's considerably more powerful than the Scorpio console itself, with specs that are closer to a nice gaming PC: it has twice as much RAM (24GB), a slightly faster graphics processor and a 1TB solid-state drive to go alongside the built-in hard drive. Unlike many dev kits, which often force studios to be conservative with their designs until they know the hardware can handle it, Scorpio encourages creators to build the most elaborate game they can and scale back only if they get a little too ambitious.
Source: Gamasutra
