If relationship stereotypes ring true, then odds are you've been dragged to a shopping mall by a spouse or significant other when you would rather be playing video games.
Well, the Global Harbor Mall in Shanghai has a solution. They've installed glass pods where women can leave their husbands to play video games while they shop.
You'd be excused if all of Sony's tentpole game announcements during the PlayStation Experience show last December blinded you to the best news of all: The 16-bit deep cut Windjammers would get ported to current systems. But the time for excuses has passed. You have only six weeks to prepare before the re-release comes out for PS4 and PS Vita on August 29th. Better polish your competitive frisbee game.
Source: PlayStation
Dang it all, there's a new Cooke Clicker update and I couldn't resist reading up on it.
If "reading up on it" sounds like code for "running the game in a tab and letting it sabotage my productivity every eight seconds," you know the score. Consider moonlighting as a detective.
Cookie Clicker update is now live, featuring sugar lumps, spirit worship and spellcasting! https://t.co/eCI2g0Ungk http://pic.twitter.com/QXQBCplDxN
— Orteil (@Orteil42) July 15, 2017
Sugar lumps, spirit worship, and spellcasting, you say? I'm intrigued and also afraid of the time commitment that's surely required to dig into this stuff proper. I'm still amassing banks!
"This is the first of a series of updates that should eventually add new features or minigames to every building," wrote designer Julien Thiennot. "Stay tuned for more fun stuff, eventually!"
Another recent post from the developer mentions scouts. They'll "return in the factory dungeons minigame, to be released at some point later (but not before some other simpler, lower-scope minigames) (farms come to mind)," according to Thiennot. "I know I've been hinting at dungeons since the game first released 4 years ago and by golly I'm going to do them and I'm going to do them right."
I need to get the heck outta here before history repeats itself.
Dtoid.TV is back, baby! After a hiatus, our lovely live channel lives again. There is still much to do, and much to discuss, so things might be a bit rough around the edges at first, but the plan is to bring the channel back to its former glory and reclaim our spot as one of the most entertaining industry channels on Twitch. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Tonight we'll be opening the doors at 6:00pm PST for an exclusive first look at the aesthetically pleasing Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles with the game's Creative Director, Cheryl Vance.
To say this game is beautiful would be an understatement, but what makes it truly unique is that there is no leveling, no combat, and no danger. Yonder allows you to just relax in its world enjoying activities such as farming, fishing, cooking, crafting, and more. Sound like something you could get into? Come by the channel and see for yourself as we check out the first few hours. See you there!
Blizzard's new War Chest program in StarCraft II is starting next week. The seasonal program will give players access to digital content over the course of three monthly phases.
The digital goodies include skins, decals, sprays, and a digital comic. You can buy War Chest access on a per-race basis or at a discount in a bundle.
My fellow Hylians, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.
I believe, in common with all Hylians, that this nation ought to own and control its own industries. I believe that all things that are jointly needed and used ought to be jointly owned—that industry, the basis of our social life, instead of being the private property of a few and operated for their enrichment, ought to be the common property of all, democratically administered in the interest of all. May we one day be free of tyranny, from without and within, from Ganon's invasions and from divinely ordained monarchy.
The posters above come from LA-based artist Fernando Reza. The Legend of Zelda series of WWII-inspired propaganda posters is a sort of follow up to some very pretty Mario propaganda posters. You can snag the Zelda ones for $40 a pop, or the full set of 17 for a cool $400.
Bonus: post your favorite WWII propaganda posters in the comments. I'm partial to:
As someone who is all about arcade-style sports games, I should have played Windjammers by now, but I haven't. It's the same story for a lot of other cool Neo Geo games, actually. We've seen many ports in recent years, and Windjammers will thankfully be among that group next month. Here's my chance!
DotEmu is bringing the disc-throwing Data East game to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on August 29, 2017. We've known this was in the works since last year, and now we know when it's happening. Soon enough, we'll be settling our differences on the court with GGPO netcode in tow.
While we continue to wait, I'd like to point out this Windjammers Frisbee that popped up on Fangamer. I don't need this thing. Absolutely, one-hundred percent, I don't -- and yet... maybe I do. It isn't available for pre-order, so there won't be any impulse purchases. (At least not today.)
At what point do we stop holding out for another Wolf Among Us? Realistically, are we past it?
I ask, but in truth, I don't think I'm capable of letting go. There isn't a single other Telltale episodic series I'd like to see continued more than this (the only thing that comes close is Tales from the Borderlands). Fables is a rich property with so many characters and stories left for the studio to explore.
I'm not alone in expressing this sentiment. Over the weekend, Telltale tweeted this:
News coming this week during #SDCC... 👀 http://pic.twitter.com/5er6wGpkoP
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) July 15, 2017
And the response was a whole lotta calls for The Wolf Among Us season two. (And also a bunch of replies with that still-funny-as-hell animation of Bigby Wolf pole dancing. A veritable classic.) Rather curiously, Bigby and Woodsman voice actor Adam Harrington retweeted the tease.
I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet, in part because a rating for Batman: The Enemy Within has surfaced in New Zealand (via NeoGAF), and that sure sounds like a believable course of action. I don't think any of us will be surprised to see that series pick back up sooner than later.
We'll see what's what soon enough. SDCC's first full day is this Thursday.
We're not sure what Walmart is angling at, but they have been incredibly aggressive on pre-order pricing in recent months. Initially, it started off as random rare titles on sale, but this weekend we're seeing full-blown sale prices on upcoming triple-As such as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and The Evil Within II. In fact, for the Xbox One, Wolfenstein II is discounted as high as 28% off on both the Collector's Edition and the Standard Edition.
Following along with these rare discounts are even rarer Nintendo titles on tap. You'll find games on sale from 18% off to 27% off from biggies such as Nintendo Switch titles Pokken Tournament DX, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Super Mario Odyssey - to 3DS games such as Pokemon Ultra Moon and Monster Hunter: Stories.
While only 19% off for Mario Odyssey at $48.50, a pre-order discount on a Nintendo flagship title without any membership fee is incredibly rare and should definitely be scooped up for those lucky enough to own a Switch (unless of course, you have Amazon Prime or Best Buy GCU).
Xbox One and PS4 Deals
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo 3DS
Walmart's pre-order deals are available with free shipping, or you can opt-in for store pickup on release date. No expiration date exist so it's up to the Walmart pricing gods on when the deals will expire.
I think it's safe to say that nobody was expecting a game like BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle to be announced. Not just BlazBlue, riding off the wave of the hype from the back and forth from grand finals, but a four way crossover between several properties Arc System Works distributes plus RWBY's debut into the fighting game stage.
With nary a detail as to what more we can expect from the game except for a 2018 release, I think now's as a good a time as ever to do what everyone loves to do when something new gets announced: wildly speculate!
RuneScape's been around forever. Since first releasing in 2001, Jagex's browser-based MMORPG has quietly built a huge player base. To many, months (or years) spent adventuring across RuneScape are a defining experience; an introduction to the breadth and scope of online gaming that players could grow up alongside.
And now, a new generation of players will have a chance to experience RuneScape in an entirely different way. By next year, RuneScape will launch on mobile devices on tablets, effectively ushering the unabashedly old-school MMO into the modern era.
A cinematic trailer has been released for Pocketwatch's upcoming Tooth and Tail, a "distilled" real-time-strategy game about a brutal war that breaks out in the countryside between a community of critters.
The trailer tells the story of a revolt leader, who throws off the chains of his oppressors after his son is devoured, leading his fellow workers to war. We catch a glimpse of the game's factions, The Longcoats, The Common-Folk, The Civilised, and The KSR, all of whom will be fighting it out in both multiplayer and single-player campaigns for control of the harvest.
It will be interesting to see if it's strategic warfare, pixelated visuals and tale of critter-political conflict will win over the people when the game launches on PC and PS4 September 12.
With War for the Planet of the Apes opening at number one this weekend, toppling a insanely strong second showing from Spider-Man: Homecoming, we've been asking ourselves whether or not there's a better modern film trilogy out there... in any genre. The insanely well plotted, acted, and developed series not only did fantastically across all three entries at the box office, it pushed motion-capture performances to another level, turned a "monkey" franchise into serious film making, and pulled more humanity out of characters than any drama or "serious" film that I can think of.
I'd put it up there with the original Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Toy Story, or even (dare I say it) The Godfather. It's just that good, and audiences think it's that good too because they keep showing up for it. Hell, I'd be hard pressed to not put it above some of those listed. While it's bow this weekend was less than the second film it still grossed an impressive amount for a summer that hasn't been too kind to sequels and reboots.
The rest of the ol' box office is below.
American McGee is frustrated. He's powerless to create another Alice game even though he wants to. Making matters worse, the impassioned fans of the series are relentless in their questioning about when they'll get another sequel -- again, something McGee wants to do but can't.
In a "Get it all off my chest" kind of post over the weekend, McGee explains that EA is completely in control over what happens with the Alice franchise. He has no authority or influence to take any steps to get another game greenlit. "EA [is] aware that you'd like a new Alice game and that RJ Berg and I would be happy to assist in the design, writing, and development of such. We simply need to wait until EA think[s] the time is right for a new game," he says.
But, the purpose of this PSA was designed to be less focused on EA's role and more about asking people to cool it with the questions. McGee is powerless to make anything happen and it seems that the heaps of inquiries have led to nothing but mounting frustrations.
Where Is Alice 3? -- Will There Be An Alice 3? -- New Alice? -- Alice Sequel? [American McGee's Blog]
One of the easiest complaints to levy at PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is its obvious lack of character customization. On the one hand, the game is still in Early Access which means that it has a lot of growing to do; on the other, it has raised more than $100 million in revenue and is consistently at the top of the Steam player charts.
Adding more character variation is one of developer Bluehole's priorities, though. In an interview with PvP Live, executive producer Chang Han Kim said "We plan to give our users much more control over character appearance by implementing Anticto's Mutable character customization system. Soon, you will be able to design your character to a tee."
This feels more important than in a lot of other games because in PUBG, your character spends a fair amount of time nearly-naked and punching for survival. Having the perfect tattoo and skin tone makes a difference when you aren't even sure if you'll find some gear to cover it up.
In unrelated news, Ray, Jordan, Steven, and myself formed a squad this weekend in hopes of murdering 96 other people. We were never successful, but here we are rolling four deep in a Jeep:
For those unaware, Splatoon 2 has a manga currently going that somehow ties in with the game's plot. I guess it has been popular enough to receive an anime adaptation, because that is exactly what's happening. CoroCoro Comic, the publishers behind the manga, announced that a new series is in the works to be launched on their YouTube channel in the near future.
The series will debut on August 12, though there isn't any confirmation of English subtitles. I wouldn't be surprised if fans get some subs up within days of release, but just note that non-Japanese speaking audiences probably won't be watching it immediately. You could learn Japanese in the next month, but that seems a bit more difficult than just waiting.
Splatoon Anime Announced Based on the Manga [Rice Digital]
Welcome back to Gaming IRL, a monthly segment where several editors talk about what they've been playing in their downtime. This month, we've obsessed over roguelikes, remasters and resource gathering; we've sent adventurers into dungeons, only to see them go insane; and one of us searched for the Burnout mode they've pined for, only to realize that making a 13-year-old minigame feel relevant is easier said than done.
For now, the Switch is in wait and see mode when it comes to a major fighting game renaissance.
There's the token first-party game in Arms (which will be followed by more, likely a Smash port), and a few others like Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2's year-later Switch port and Street Fighter II. But there hasn't been a dearth of current Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Arc System Works fighters yet. That could change according to BlazeBlue director Toshimichi Mori.
Speaking to Red Bull, Mori states: "As far as announcements go, I unfortunately can't say much today, but what I will say is that with the introduction of fun competitive games like Arms, I do believe fighting games can definitely find a home on the Switch. Stay tuned!"
It's unclear if he meant a sort of hopeful "stay tuned" to see where it goes, or if he was confirming an Arc System Works project on the spot. Given that they've already said that FighterZ could be Switch-bound in the future, he may have been hinting at that. More fighting game platforms are always a good thing, especially if they can get cross-platform play.
EVO 2017 [Red Bull]
Hot off the heels of the recent announcement of Gintama: Project Last Game, Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia has some fantastic news. While there is no confirmation of an international release at this time, the PlayStation 4 version will be receiving an English release in Asia. Meaning for those that want to play it, the option of importing is now a more viable option.
Unfortunately, the Vita version will not be receiving an English translation, and will be left behind in Japan.
We've been waiting a long while for Dragon Quest XI, but Japanese 3DS/PS4 owners (and importers) will get a chance to try it out very soon on July 29. The Switch version still has an unconfirmed release date, but in the meantime you can watch the intro straight from Square Enix now by way of a livestream event.
It starts at 21:52 in, as our protagonist has a Moses-esque "baby downstream" moment, spurred by an invasion from an evil entity. Toriyama's style still works just as well as it did ages ago, as does the fantastic score.
It's an interesting choice to develop it for both the portable and console arena, and I'll probably end up playing both Nintendo platforms when it inevitably comes west.
Final Fantasy is back at the top of the U.K charts, with Square Enix's anticipated re-release Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age slamming straight into the number one spot, toppling Crash Bandicoot, which has sat comfortably on the throne for the past fortnight.
In other news Infinite Warfare has climbed back up to #2, whilst Injustice 2 has re-entered the top ten, climbing ten places from last week. It will be interesting to see if other fighters climb the charts in wake of this weekend's EVO tournament. Wipeout: Omega Collection has also seen a second coming this week.
Congratulations to Final Fantasy XII on its triumphant return. I'm putting it down to that rabbit livestream.
For the first time, eSports league ESL is coming to cable TV, broadcasting ESL Brawlers and ESL SpeedRunners on Disney XD. The two series will feature on Disney's D|XP, a summer programming block devoted to gaming. ESL Brawler pits the best Street Fighter V players in a first to 10 match, with winners defending their title against a new contender each week and fighting it out in a final Vainglory championship on week seven. The SpeedRunner event is more of a free-for-all, pitting the best players against each other to finish the game fastest, while chasing a world record.
Oculus unveiled one of their new big projects over the weekend, Marvel Powers United. It looks like a take on Robo Recall, but with an emphasis on co-op play.
I really miss the days where the Marvel, Sony, and Fox didn't muddy the waters with their film rights. When Wolverine could be in Marvel vs. Capcom and crossovers like X-Men Legends could have pretty much anyone they wanted on the roster. Folks are already tentatively interested in Powers United pending Spider-Man's inclusion, but I'm not so sure it'll happen.
If you're a 'hip' kid like me, then you may have heard that the BBC announced a new Doctor was on the way for their long-running show Doctor Who. And on Sunday, they revealed on their Twitter that the new Doctor would be played by the phenomenal actor Jodie Whittaker.
Whittaker will take over the role in an upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special, and will get to stretch her legs as the Doctor when the 11th series premieres in late 2018. Peter Capaldi, the current Doctor, had nothing but nice things to say about Whittaker's succession in the paper Sunday Express.
“Anyone who has seen Jodie Whittaker's work will know that she is a wonderful actress of great individuality and charm. She has above all the huge heart to play this most special part. She's going to be a fantastic Doctor.”
Creative Assembly seems to have listened to fan feedback about it's previous pre-order efforts with Total War: Warhammer and is creating a different piece of content for promotion of the sequel. Anyone who pre-orders Total War: Warhammer II will receive an extra race for the previous entry in the series, the details of which are currently unknown.
What this means for anyone without the first game isn't mentioned, but this effort is an attempt to give fans an early taste of what's in store for when the sequel finally launches. The brand director of Creative Assembly, Rob Bartholomew, had this to say about the initiative:
Another Evolution Fighting Championship has come to an end. Thousands of fight-fans descended on Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this weekend to test their mettle against the world's top players in major and minor tournaments.
When the dust settled after a string of great, intense finals (Blazblue in particular) here's who stood supreme:
