News:: Nintendo's first Switch streaming app launches Thursday in Japan

Other than its still-in-development online gaming setup, the Nintendo Switch launched without the suite of video streaming apps we're used to seeing on new consoles. Now there's an announcement of one video app for the Switch that's scheduled to launch July 13th, but unfortunately, it's only for Japanese users. Niconico is a YouTube-like video sharing site where users comments float in over videos while the play. From the preview video, it all seems quite straightforward, but we still have no information on when apps like Netflix or Hulu will be available for gamers in other countries.

Via: NeoGAF

Source: Niconico Blog

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News:: Save up your ultimates, Nendoroid Mercy is on the way

Ready to make that one last push onto the objective? Got Tracer and Mei in the wings? It's time to take out a health insurance policy and get yourself a Mercy!

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News:: Sony had Yoko Taro list his favorite PS4 games, and his explanations are great

Sony has been rounding up developers to curate their favorite PlayStation 4 games. I've peeked at a few of these "Discover the Creators" lists in recent weeks, but none have fascinated me as much as Yoko Taro's. What's the director and writer of NieR: Automata into? Some unexpected stuff.

Taro only needed "one to two lines per game" for Sony's purposes, but he ended up talking at length about his eight recommendations: Resogun, Final Fantasy XV, Horizon Zero Dawn, Gravity Rush Remastered, Gravity Rush 2, Danganronpa 1.2 Reload, Life is Strange, and The Last Guardian.

Here he is on FFXV:

"I was creating a title called NIER Gestalt/Replicant when this title was called Versus XIII but because it was very likely that our games would release around the same time, I was thinking 'oh man, Versus is an action RPG right? It would suck if the release dates were close to each other.' NIER ended up releasing without having to worry about Versus XIII but then, when I was creating Drakengard 3 I thought 'it would suck if they release close to our release,' and it was the same again when we were creating NieR: Automata this time too. Looking back, I feel like I was trapped by the curse of Versus for about 10 years. This game and its content created over the course of 10 years is unparalleled and unique, and I enjoyed it a lot. The one thing that surprised me the most is their incomprehensible passion towards food and beverage. FF is amazing."

And the Gravity Rush games:

"I feel like recent Western titles are polarized into super AAA titles and indie games, but the Gravity Rush series is a game right around the middle of the two. By the way, I go out to drink with the director Keiichiro Toyama once in a while but the only image I have of him is him being drunk, and I can't help but think 'how can a title like this come from a person like him?'"

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News:: 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' coming to Rock Band, costs an extra dollar because it's so dang long

Ever since Rock Band's comeback tour began in late 2015, Harmonix has done a commendable job of falling back into the routine of releasing weekly DLC. This post-launch support was a defining characteristic of the first games in the series, as players had new tracks to look forward to (and to sometimes be disappointed by) every week.

That pattern is somewhat broken this week because Harmonix is releasing only one new DLC song. But it's a hell of a long one. Coming to Rock Band this Thursday is "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly, a 17-minute '60s metal epic.

Another trend that's breaking this week is the pricing model. Due to its considerable length, Harmonix is charging $3 for this track instead of the customary $2. The developer cites the fact that this is more than four times the length of the average Rock Band song as the reason for the price bump.

Interestingly enough, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" won't assume the mantle as the longest track in the Rock Band catalog. That honor goes to the seven-part "2112" by Rush which clocks in at 20:34. It's probably not getting dethroned anytime soon.

And, because it's basically obligatory, here's your Simpsons clip:

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News:: Warframe is going open world with its next expansion

Warframe has blown the heck up since I last played it years ago, back when it was only on PC and still finding its footing. Over the weekend, Digital Extremes showcased Plains of Eidolon, a substantial expansion launching this year that pushes the free-to-play action game into open-world territory.

You'll have the freedom to fly around with your Archwing, chat up the local scavengers at the town of Cetus, and engage with Grineer patrols during the day and much-deadlier foes at night.

"We wanted to give our players something new, something dramatic, and that meant taking risks and evolving the game in a fresh, new direction," said creative director Steve Sinclair.

"For veteran players, we're always trying to give them a living, evolving game. Landscapes is a great example of how we do that. If you bounced off Warframe a while ago, this is a very different feel for the game that warrants a second look."

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News:: The Escapists 2 tunnels out in late August

The Escapists 2 doesn't have time to wait for a parole hearing. It's bustin' out of this joint soon, blowin' this popsicle stand. Live free or die trying.

On August 22, prison escape simulator The Escapists 2 releases on PC, PS4, and Xbox One for $20. In addition to featuring 10 clinks to slink, the big change to the sequel is that it has drop-in local and online multiplayer for up to four players. If you're attempting something this recklessly foolhardy, you might as well make your friends complicit too.

It'll take a little while longer for the Switch version to make its grand escape. The developer simply says Nintendo's platform is "to follow." It's gotta sit in solitary confinement while the three others acclimate to the outside world.

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News:: Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem looks as promising as ever in this latest trailer

I've been on a bit of an ARPG kick recently, thanks to Mr. Llama's speedrun of one of the greatest games of all time, Diablo II. I dove headfirst back into Path of Exile in anticipation of its upcoming patch, and now get to enjoy the newest trailer from the Early Access title Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.

I've been following (literally, on Steam) the development of the game for a long time now, as the visuals and animations immediately caught my eye. The development team is frequently posting change logs of the various updates, occasionally with GIFs that make me happy I check my Activity Feed on Steam. As of now, the game is only single player, but by the time it leaves Early Access it will have cooperative play. I think that's a make-or-break piece of information for a game like this, so I wanted to stress it.

The trailer does a great job of showing off what is uniquely Wolcen. Customizable characters (not as common in ARPGs), a weird rotating mix-and-match passive tree, customizable skills, and of course the great visual fidelity make it easy to get excited. Judging from what state the Early Access version seems to be in, I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on it for now like I am as the majority of the game still seems to be unavailable. So maybe give it a follow on Steam?

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News:: Episode 2 of a Thing: Lyle McDouchebag vs. Candy Crush the TV Show

A.C. Slater has been thawed from ice to host the worst thing ever. Our favorite game, Candy Crush, is now death-inducing a TV show! We all love Candy Crush right?! Candy Crush TV? More like MUST SEE TV!

Kill me now. Anyways, let's talk about this TV show that shouldn't exist.

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News:: Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon get an Amazon exclusive Steelbook

If you've absolutely gotta catch 'em all, Amazon is offering an exclusive Steelbook version of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. 

For $80, you'll get both games, along with a collectible Steelbook case, featuring art of what are presumably the new forms of Solgaleo and Lunala, the legendary Pokémon from Pokémon Sun and Moon.

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News:: Logitech is buying Astro Gaming

It's right there in the headline, but yep, Logitech has agreed to pick up headset maker Astro Gaming.

The acquisition is expected to close in "early August" for $85 million in cash, with Logitech now "investing in an adjacent gaming market — the console gaming market — to help accelerate the long-term growth of our gaming business," according to today's press release. The pairing makes total sense.

"Astro's brand strength combined with Logitech G's unrivaled technology and global distribution network is going to bring our products to even more gamers around the world," said co-founder Jordan Reiss.

I'll be curious to see how this acquisition affects Astro's product line and pricing, if at all.

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News:: Digital pre-orders for Yakuza Kiwami will include a 'brotastic' theme

I can't say I've ever associated the Yakuza series with the "bro" community. No offense to anyone, but Yakuza is more about honor and bombast than about the bond between friends. Then again, Kiwami is a remake of the first game and that storyline focuses on the falling out of series protagonist (and almost literal god) Kiryu Kazuma and his sworn brother Nishikiyama Akira, so maybe that is where this marketing pitch is coming from.

If you happen to make a digital pre-order for Yakuza Kiwami (and miss out on that rad steelbook?!), you'll receive a PS4 theme that is all about the "bros." From the looks of the images Sega has sent over, it follows the typical grayscale theming that the series has enjoyed since its inception. It also is sorely lacking in Majima representation, so I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Dressing up your PS4 front end with some sweet Yakuza images is never a bad thing, though you can just apply your own wallpapers in the newest system update. Hell, you can even take the header from this post! At least that has Majima!

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News:: It's mostly Resident Evil and Dead Rising in Capcom's new Humble Bundle

The theme for the next Humble Bundle is publisher-oriented before, and that's something that we've seen time and time again. However, the sub-theme narrows the scope (mostly) down to two prominent franchises that a lot of people have a lot of love for: Resident Evil and Dead Rising.

The first tier isn't super indicative of that trend. Anyone who pays $1 or gets Steam keys for Strider, Umbrella Corps, and DmC: Devil May Cry. There's only one title there that fits the trend and it's the unfortunate Umbrella Corps. That is said to be a not-very-good game.

It's in the next level that things start to cohere. Those who pay more than the average ($6.35 at time of writing) will get Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil HD Remaster, Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster, and the Umbrella Corps Deluxe Edition Upgrade Pack.

The last (but still considerably cheap) tier is all about Dead Rising. Paying more than $12 nets Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition. Because the most recent games in these two series are noticeably missing, contributing more than the average also comes with coupons for 40 percent off Resident Evil 7 and 50 percent off Dead Rising 4. Whichever you decide to buy into, know that there will be ample zombie killing in your near future.

Humble Capcom Rising Bundle [Humble]

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News:: Heck yeah, Wild Guns Reloaded is now on Steam

Natsume's frantic space western shooting game Wild Guns Reloaded is now out on Steam following a PlayStation 4 release back in December. It's the classic Super Nintendo game, but updated with new stuff like two extra characters who play very differently, more stages, and new bosses.

At $20 (well, $15 during launch week), I think this is going to be a somewhat tough sell to folks who aren't at least vaguely familiar with Wild Guns. Chris dug the PS4 version of Reloaded quite a bit. "Whether you're the type of score-attack addicted player who wants to rocket ahead in the leaderboards, or you have three other friends/family members ready for co-op, it's worth digging into."

This new dog character is a real good boy, I've gotta say.

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News:: Netflix's Castlevania showrunner also wants to make a 'Dark Metroid' anime

Now that the Castlevania series has premiered on Netflix and everyone who's interested has gotten their peepers on it, it's time to move forward to the next shiny thing. Showrunner Adi Shankar, fresh off of the announcement he was working on an Assassin's Creed animated assassination, said he'd also be interested in a Metroid series. 

In an interview with Nintendo Life, Shankar said he'd want to tackle a "dark" Metroid series "in the same anime style." Since Metroid seems like a very anime friendly series, I'd be down for it. If it were to take a risk and not have a lot of dialogue (a la Samurai Jack), that'd be absolutely perfect. 

As for the currently in the works Castlevania season 2, Shankar confirms the scripts for the eight episodes have already been written. So, hey, that's a good sign. 

Feature: Castlevania Show Producer Adi Shankar On Respecting Fandom And Future Seasons [Nintendo Life]

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News:: Wild West settlement builder Dino Frontier is out August 1

I was immediately on board with Dino Frontier, a game that tasks you with raising up a settlement of humans and dinosaurs in the Wild West. It's such a fun idea. You play as Big Mayor, watching over and interacting with your citizens from on high. You can even reach out and grab them!

This is a PlayStation VR game, and it's Uber Entertainment's latest release following Wayward Sky. That game was all right (especially as a launch title), albeit short. The studio describes Dino Frontier as a "second-generation VR game." The concept seems great, so hopefully the execution is too.

VR owners can find out on August 1, 2017 when it launches for $30.

Dino Frontier Launches August 1 on PS VR [PlayStation Blog]

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News:: ARMS producer talks about upcoming update, confirms Hedlok mode

Speaking with Eurogamer, ARMS producer Kosuke Yabuki discussed more details about the upcoming update, due for release on July 12. In addition to the new character Max Brass, he confirmed that there would be a mode centered around Hedlok, as the official Twitter account had previously teased.

The new mode will also join the new records feature as side attractions to the main attraction of Max Brass.

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News:: What lies in store for the future of Rooster Teeth Games?

Rooster Teeth may be best known for its productions on YouTube, the most famous being Red vs. Blue (which actually started before YouTube), but not a lot of people realize that they are making a big push to enter game publishing. Just last year, RWBY: Grimm Eclipse hit steam during RTX and marked the first attempt that the company made for finding indie talent and making dreams come true.

This past weekend, I got a chance to speak with Michael Hadwin, the director of games for Rooster Teeth, about how they got started with publishing and what some of their plans are for the future.

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News:: Squeaky clean murder scene in Serial Cleaner

Many gamers are responsible for wanton, brain-splattered carnage in their many escapades. But who gets to clean all that shit up once they've had their fun? Well now, you can!

Today sees the release of Serial Cleaner from Curve Digital. Set in the 1970s, the game sees you as a 'cleaner' (in the "Jean Reno in Nikita" sense) hired to mop up after various murders and massacres, removing bodies, blood-stains and other evidence whilst evading the law who show up to investigate the visceral horror.

The game, which boasts stylistic visuals, blend top-down stealth action with dark humour to make for a challenging and sticky experience as you move from scene-to-scene quickly scooping up brain matter and bagging up bodies whilst using the surroundings to keep yourself hidden out of sight, lest you end up inside one of your own body-bags.

As a fun extra, the game's bonus levels see you scrub up after famous movie massacres, including scenes from Alien, Taxi Driver and Suspiria. If I was lazy, I'd say "It's Hotline Miami meets Viscera Clean-up Detail!" but I'm not, so I won't (and you should forget that I just did.)

If you fancy getting your hands dirty, and don't mind scrubbing the entrails from your fingernails, then Serial Cleaner is available today on PS4 for $15, with Steam and Xbox One versions releasing Friday.

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News:: Fire Pro Wrestling World launches onto Steam Early Access

Whilst many pro-wrasslin' fans will be stoked to receive yesterday's news of WWE 2K18's Switch announcement, super-cool-kids club members know that the real hot-topic was the Early Access launch of Fire Pro Wrestling World.

The Fire Pro series, which has run for over two decades, is a passionate simulation of wrestling and MMA, housed within a cutesy, retro-looking aesthetic. The matches are won and lost through the game's frame-timing mechanic, with a natural rhythm required to transition from your weakest moves to your strongest. This can make for some intense battles that can be over in seconds or run for nearly an hour.

The games are renown for their almost endless customisation options, from wrestler appearance and move-sets, to canvas logos, ring colours, match types and even referees. Fire Pro has always been an epic way to create entire generations of wrestling rosters and promotions. Now, with Steam Workshop, it will be easier than ever to put together your ultimate hall of fame.

Fire Pro Wrestling World is available on Steam Early Access for $20 and I urge any wrestling fan, whether you love the spectacle of the West or the brutal neck-dropping of the East, to consider giving it a shot. Be warned, it can take a lot of practice to get the mechanics down, but once you do, it can be hard to step through the ropes of any other squared circle again.

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News:: Crackdown 3 SDCC panel will bring 'exciting news' & 'special guest'

After a lengthy and rocky development period, Crackdown 3 is on the way. The game's senior developers will be present at San Diego Comic-Con where they promise some "exciting" new news is to be revealed.

Narrative designer Dave Mongan, art director Dave Johnson, and designer Clint Bundrick will be holding a panel at the oxygen-depriving SDCC, where they will be talking about the process of bringing Crackdown's spectacle of destruction to fruition, as well as fielding audience questions.

As an extra surprise, the panel will feature a "special guest" which everybody is already assuming is cast member Terry Crews (fresh from not being the voice of Overwatch's Doomfist after all) It's a pretty snug assumption that it might be Crews making the appearance, but less guessing equals less disappointment.

If you wanna take part, then the Crackdown 3 panel will take place at SDCC Saturday July 22 at 11:00am PST. Crackdown 3 will hit Xbox One and PC November 7.

Crackdown 3 at SDCC [Gamespot]

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News:: Finally, a good look at Shakedown: Hawaii

To date we've seen teases galore for vblank's follow up to River City Ransom, Shakedown: Hawaii, mostly in the form of gifs and small clips.

But the day has come to see a little bit more, which includes this new trailer that showcases a new character and narrative, as well as what vblank is calling a "business metagame." For those of you who weren't keen on a lot of the gaming references and memes in River City, the developer describes Shakedown as more of a commentary on "mega corporations and white collar crimes."

Shakedown Hawaii will be released later this year on 3DS, PS4, Vita, PC, and Switch. It'll hit Switch first as per February's "Nindies" Direct, and Sony platforms will be getting self-published physical copies.

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News:: Lumosity doesn’t actually improve your cognitive skills

Brain training apps such as Lumosity and Elevate are supposedly useful in order to keep your cognitive skills sharp, but there's been quite a bit of doubt cast on whether they are actually useful. Now, scientists led by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Joseph Kable are chiming in. As published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the team "found no evidence that cognitive training influences neural activity during decision-making, nor did we find effects of cognitive training on measures of delay discounting or risk sensitivity."

Source: The Journal of Neuroscience

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News:: Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD is being removed from Steam

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is a pretty bad homage to the classic PlayStation Neversoft series. It combined the original Pro Skater with its sequel and eventually got some maps from Pro Skater 3 as downloadable content.

Honestly, this is the worst way to enjoy these classic games, everything about it feels kind of off. We gave it a 4.5/10 back when it released in 2012, citing its lack of content and personality. If you feel this HD remake of a gaming classic is something you need in your Steam library, you only have a week to grab it.

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News:: Two big Pokemon characters have been written out of the new Indigo League re-telling movie

So if you clicked this and are about to get angry about spoilers for a film coming to Japan first that will inevitably be discussed for months before it hits the west, here is your warning.

According to the official site for Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!, which is The Pokemon Company's second re-telling of the series of late (the other was an OVA that had "Red" instead of Ash), Brock and Misty aren't making it in as Ash's companions. No, Makoto and Souji, two younger kids, took that spot.

People have all sorts of mixed feelings on this, but as we all know, a wait and see approach is best. It's possible that he'll still meet Brock and Misty at some point, or they're saving them for a future film continuation. Maybe people will dig Makoto and Souji more? Maybe the point of their characters are to serve as a proxy for us, the viewer, so that Ash's journey is the focal point rather than the supporting cast?

Some of us will see for ourselves when it arrives on July 15 in Japanese theaters.

Pokemon Movie [Pokemon via Kotaku]

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News:: Wolfenstein II to get Dark Horse art compendium

Dark Horse publishing, renowned for their wide range of lovely video game art books, have announced that Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will receive its own lavish tome.

The 184-page hardcover will be packed to the brim with concept art, speed-paintings, and character sheets, alongside written commentary from the designers of MachineGame's upcoming sequel shooter, set for release October 27. The art book will arrive shortly afterwards on November 7, and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon's U.S. site, at the modest price of $40.

I actually have a few of the Dark Horse books myself, but I'll be onto my pennies for the HUGE Overwatch effort coming later on in the year so that, like most art books, I can excitedly await its arrival, flick through it once, then put it on the shelf and never look at it again.

The Art of Wolfenstein II [Amazon U.S.]

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News:: Magic Leap is still figuring out what 'mixed reality' is

Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz recently said at an investor conference that the company's 'mixed reality' headset (?) "is not far away" from launch, whatever that really means. While the mysterious startup might be closing in on consumer-ready hardware, it's still in the process of discovering exactly what 'mixed reality' is. Delivering the opening keynote at gaming conference Develop:Brighton today, Magic Leap's Graeme Devine said, "There's huge expectations that mixed reality will come of the gate and, oh boy! It'll be here and it'll be just like Minority Report right away... And no, we've never seen that with any platform. So that ask is impossible."

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News:: Get a look at the first 15 minutes of Splatoon 2

I got my hands on the full version of Splatoon 2, and I'm happy to say that so far, it's on track to be at least as good as the original. You can watch the first 15 minutes for yourself below.

Yet, as you may have noticed, a lot of this build is locked right now. Since online play isn't enabled in my current version (it will be later this week) you can't really interact with the shops, and thus unlock several key features, just like the first. At the moment I can basically mess around in the hub (which includes a DDR-like minigame), scan amiibo for costume bonuses, and play the campaign.

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