Nintendo now supports two-factor verification to its Nintendo Accounts. This adds another layer of security by requiring codes generated from the Google Authenticator app, though it comes years later than most other gaming platforms.
Source: Gamasutra
I stopped playing Super Mario Run only a few weeks after launch last December, but I've yet to delete the app. It just sits there, catching my eye every time I make it to my phone's home screen. What'll it take for Nintendo to get me back in there? Something significant. Something like this, actually!
A batch of new content is coming September 29 (at least on iOS), including a Remix 10 mode "in which you play a set of 10 super-short sections from Super Mario Run's existing levels in quick succession" with rainbow bonus medals to nab along the way; Daisy as an unlockable playable character; nine levels in the new World Star; and the ability to play your own music in the background. As a neat extra touch, "Mario and his friends will wear headphones" when you have custom music going.
Lastly, Nintendo will knock 50 percent off Super Mario Run for two weeks starting Sept. 29.
Super Mario Run "Remix 10/Daisy" rumor was true, update coming Sept. 29th [GoNintendo]
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have looked fairly skippable to me. I had a grand old time in the Alola region, but it's all too recent. Once was enough for the time being. If you're on the fence or missed Sun and Moon the first go around, this summary site should help clear up your decision before November.
Besides new Ultra Beasts and forms for Necrozma, these enhanced games will have altered island trials and story bits, along with a Photo Club for dressing and posing your 'mons and ooh, what's this? Surfing!
The Mantine Surf mini-game looks shockingly good for what it is.
The next Pokémon game I play will probably be Silver on 3DS, followed by whatever shows up on Switch.
Conspiracy theories fascinate me, from the almost too believable ones like the JFK assassination all the way to the crazy ones like chemtrails or that a ground-based radio transmitter can control the weather. OK, that last one actually annoys me, but that's another article. So when conspiracy theories get crossed with video games of course I'm going to listen.
Enter the Polybius Conspiracy, an investigative podcast that deals with a persistent rumor about an arcade game in Portland, Oregon during the early '80s. The game unsurprisingly called Polybius had strangely addictive properties, as well as side effects that included amnesia, night terrors, insomnia, and hallucinations.
After numerous delays, several off-the-wall demos, and a dash of biting political commentary, South Park: The Fractured But Whole has finally gone gold. Ubisoft decided to celebrate the milestone by releasing a brand-new trailer that makes fun of Kanye West and his video game Only One, and Flappy Bird. It’s a fitting end for this prolonged development cycle, and as always, the trailer contains some questionable humor from Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
The green fish are in reference to the “Fishsticks” South Park episode from Season 13, where West accepts his life as a gay fish, and jumps into the sea. Which is tame enough, but when the trailer switches gears to make fun of West’s game Only One, announced back in 2015, things get a little weird. The depiction of Kanye’s late mother has received some seething looks on NeoGAF, with some even dubbing it “mammy fish.” Depending on your sense of humor, this either looks like a bad joke, or a horrendous attempt at humor tinged with racism. Which, if you see what this depiction looks like….
This is really uncomfortable.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole releases on October 17, 2017.
[LaTerry straps on his dancing shoes, and gives us a peek into his evolution from a total stiff to a rhythm-obsessed fanatic! This stuff is pure, unadulterated fun. Resistance is futile. I see that head bobbing. Don’t stop shakin’ those hips just yet because it’s time to learn how LaTerry got his groove back, baby! – Kevin]
Rhythm games have had a few waves of popularity. The first that I remember was the DDR wave. DDR was huge for a while. I remember playing it back then and having fun but getting frustrated with the dance pad. The one that we had for it was pretty cheap and slid across the floor, making playing the game more of a chore than anything else.
We're getting pretty close to the release of The Evil Within 2 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Now producer Shinji Mikami, who acted as director for the original game, has said he would like to eventually see the game on Switch.
Mikami spoke with GameSpot, saying, "I think a Switch version would be interesting. I'd like to try it if I had the chance." It's probably safe to say that no such port is in the works, but Mikami's interest provides a glimmer of hope.
Pokkén Tournament DX is out today on Nintendo Switch. To celebrate, you can download some free clothes for your in-game Pokémon trainer.
You can score a leather jacket for both male and female trainers. Nintendo of America tweeted out a link to the codes on their official Twitter.
Redeem these codes in #PokkenTournamentDX to get some cool clothes for your Battle Trainer.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 22, 2017
For more info visit: https://t.co/kd49ERODOL http://pic.twitter.com/ekucJAZjS8
Blizzard announced the latest free weekend for Overwatch last week and I had already forgotten about it, so here's your day-of reminder that the festivities have kicked off. You'll be able to play the full game on PC (Battle.net), PlayStation 4 (PlayStation Plus), and Xbox One (Xbox Live Gold) at no extra charge.
During the free weekend, the full roster of heroes and maps will be open, as will Quick Play, Custom Games, the Arcade, and the potential to earn Loot Boxes. Progress you earn here will carry over, should you buy. On that note, Blizzard is currently discounting the game. Overwatch is now $30, Game of the Year Edition is $40, and the upgrade from the base game to GotY Edition is $10.
Have fun out there. If it's been a while since you tried a free weekend, expect noticeable changes to some of the characters. And definitely at least poke your head into the Arcade to see what's what.
This weekend (and this weekend only), Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare players have the option of dropping the guns and raining down death through more unconventional means. Their hands are suddenly just as effective as bullets.
With a new mode that's running from September 22 through September 25, Infinity Ward has introduced "Gesture Warfare" to Infinite Warfare multiplayer playlists. Through a randomly cycling rotation of gestures, players take aim and try to kill each other with hand movements. The trailer probably best demonstrates how it works. There's a lot of vaporizing unsuspecting enemies. It's part magical and part ridiculous.
A sliver of traditional Call of Duty combat remains, though. Infinity Ward has opted to retain throwing knives in Gesture Warfare. The developer explains it's so "you'll still be able to be effective when you get caught in surprise combat situations." But everything else is about hand signals.
Gesture Warfare is quirky, different, and limited-time. Sounds like a nice and fun change of pace for the regular players.
Welcome to Gesture Warfare! [reddit]
In Volume 9 of Your Bad Movie Night Guide, we cover Chopping Mall, our first reader suggestion, brought to you by @TheLimoMaker. I nearly typed chopping block, as chopping mall makes very little sense, even after seeing the movie; it just sounds like someone's pronouncing the real thing very poorly. Apparently, a janitor at a screening just suggested it and they ran with it, Chopping Mall being the most clever title they could come up with. And it tested better then original titles Robots and Killbots. This is the story of what happens when killer robots are designed to be non-lethal mall security blarts and their creator defies fate by uttering, "Trust me, absolutely nothing can go wrong."
A new story trailer just dropped for Sonic Forces. It gives us a peek at a world ruled by Dr. Eggman. Sonic and friends must lead the resistance to take down robots that are presumably filled with little animals.
Almost every Sonic character from over the years from Silver the Hedgehog to Charmy Bee makes an appearance, as well as new Sonic baddie Infinite who's looking to dethrone Shadow as king of edgy.
Now that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is out, and those interested have played around for a little while, there's a question that's been bugging me ever since I first laid my eyes on it. I've openly gone back and forth over Infinite's visuals, and the strong gameplay and netcode made it harder, but I've been trying to figure out why that is. Why do the visuals suddenly matter so much to me given the how little they should matter in fighting games?
I think it's because it feels like Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, the latest in a series known for its carnival atmosphere welcoming everyone to its broken ride, seems to be more focused on those who'd be willing to buy a ticket regardless since their careers could depend on it.
Since this is such a huge topic, and because it's far too early to definitively come to a conclusion, I reached out to Reviews Director and Co-Editor-in-Chief Chris Carter (who wrote Infinite's review) for a second opinion. Hopefully this is the start of a conversation around eSports and its effect on the Versus series that'll be clearer as the months roll on.
News about impending news is arguably some of the worst that video game press has to offer. Lacking in any real substance, our hands are tied to the point where all we can do is to say "here's when you'll learn a thing."
And we pass on that a lot of the time! But not all the time. Not when public interest is such that people probably want to know when they'll learn a thing. Anything regarding Red Dead Redemption 2 fits the bill right now. So, without further ado, here's when you'll learn a thing.
Observing Nintendo's ever evolving Switch and online services is like watching a child grow up right in front of our eyes. You've know what it's going to become, it's just taking so long. Today marks a big growth point in the crayons on the door frame as the online services now have two-step authorization.
The security method makes it so that even if some naughty hackermans get your password and try to access your account from somewhere new, they are required to input a code that is sent to another device that in theory should be on the owner of the account's person at all times. The second step in this case is sent through Google's Authenticator app. To set it all up just log into your Nintendo online account through the web and follow the instructions on there.
I do find it amusing that Nintendo is taking advantage of the fact that most of the world has smartphones and using it to cover their online services. The chat app the replaces an in-game or on-hardware chat service, and now Google's established app for their security. Oh well at least it's finally there, I do suggest using it as it's an invaluable asset in this ever changing world of online security.
I escaped the clutches of Clicker Heroes once, and I'll do it again. It was my favorite of the time-wasting, dopamine-releasing idle games. It got me real good. Now, a sequel is underway for next year.
It's a substantial step up, visually speaking, and based on the Steam description, Clicker Heroes 2 will follow a similar loop: "Kill monsters. Get gold. Choose your gear. Upgrade your gear. Learn talents. Defeat horrifying bosses. Progress to new worlds. Gain XP. Level up with a massive skill tree."
I'm curious what kinds of tweaks and additions Playsaurus will work in since the developer will obviously need to do something but also can't risk alienating its hardcore players too much.
Clicker Heroes 2 [Steam]
We just got the elusive SNES Mini, and surprise, it's adorable.
This tiny little thing might not have a working cartridge slot or eject button but it's easy to pick up and throw around -- not that you'd want to do that given how rare this thing already is. The retro style manual is a nice touch too, as is the included HDMI cable. Along with your power adapter that's all she wrote -- and the retail box is tiny as well.
I can't stress how nice having two controllers out of the gate is. I went into my local GameStop the morning of the NES Mini's release (having pre-ordered it), and asked how many controllers they had -- "two," they replied, and the line was 20 people long. Yeesh!
That's about all I can say for now! Stay tuned for our review sometime next week.
I love this trend of Arika adding more fighters from its half of the Street Fighter EX series, and slowly turning their upcoming game into a new Fighting Layer title. Though it's still unnamed as of this point, EX fans should recognize its latest addition: Doctrine Dark.
Like the Allen Snider teaser before it, there's no gameplay footage to speak of but we do get a look at D. Dark's new look. I don't remember him having a laser blade? Regardless, he's cool and I can't wait to see how he plays.
Arika's still untitled fighting game releases sometime next year.
In the week following Nintendo's reveal of Doom coming to the Switch, we've gotten a bunch of info about the specifics of how large it will be and how it will perform. While we already knew the game cart wasn't going to include multiplayer, we now know exactly how big that extra download is. If you happen to go physical and actually want to enjoy fragging your friends, make sure to set aside around 9 GB for the download.
Apparently the game is going to ship on a 16 GB cart, meaning developer Panic Button (who is handling this port in lieu of ID Software) somehow compressed the game down to a fairly manageable size. I'm guessing this has to do more with visual assets not being at full HD (1080p) resolution, but maybe Nintendo is lending some of their wizardry to third-parties.
As for how well the game will run, the target framerate is going to be 30 FPS. I'm not surprised at that statement, seeing as how the Switch isn't a technical powerhouse. It's mostly impressive that Doom is even functional on a Switch in a form that resembles the other console versions, so I'm sure people will be okay with that. I don't know if I could handle the game running at half speed, but I'm also not the target audience for this conversion.
About the framerate, Bethesda told Glixel, "The game and rendering technology underlying Doom is extremely scalable. In bringing Doom to Switch, we targeted outstanding visuals at a solid 30 fps and by maintaining a consistent 30 fps, the experience remains consistently fluid and smooth. We’ve been thrilled with the feedback that Doom is among the very best looking and performing games on Switch."
Why the multiplayer has to even be separate, I'm not quite sure. The game could just ship on a 32 GB card and contain everything, but that might possibly drive the cost up (damn you, Switch tax!). I'm mainly just shocked that if you go digital, you can actually fit the entirety of Doom on your Switch with a little room to spare. How's that for optimization 2K?!
'Doom on Switch' Runs at 30FPS, Multiplayer Download is 9 GB [Glixel]
Another week, another PSN flash sale. This one is pretty big, showcasing all sorts of anime-flavored games like action romps, RPGs, and fighters.
As sprinkled in are decidedly non-anime joints like Dragon's Lair Trilogy, Disney Afternoon Collection, and Child of Light. As always most of the goods are relegated to PS4, but there's also some PS3 and Vita stuff in there too.
It's days like this that I wish the Vita took off and that Sony embraced backward compatibility. It would be nice to just grab a bunch of this stuff knowing that I'd get it via cross-buy on the go, or that I'd get to play random PS3 games on PS4. Either way you can't argue with some of these sales or the quality of the library of both systems.
Flash Sale [PSN]
Epic Games' cartoony horde game Fortnite is still in Steam Early Access, but the studio recently announced that a free-to-play version of the game would come out for free next week... and it looks a lot like another really popular game. Fortnite: Battle Royale's gameplay doesn't just closely resemble PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: Epic admitted it inspired their new title while promoting its game. Bluehole, the studio behind PUBG, is none too happy, and even stated in a press release that it's considering 'further action.'
Destiny 2 has been experiencing a lot of outages recently during prime time European periods, most of which have offered small bug fixes and no major changes for the game. Yet another one is scheduled for Monday too, so be sure to weigh your options before taking off work again only to be greeted with more "the Destiny servers are down for maintenance" messages.
The outage will start at 6AM PT on September 25, and will last until 12PM PT. The first major outage was extended for hours on end, but the most recent one only lasted roughly half the time as expected, so just keep an eye on Bungie's Twitter account for the quickest updates.
So what's next for Destiny 2? Well, Faction Rallies, the Prestige (hard/heroic) version of the raid, and the upcoming Osiris expansion.
Destiny Server and Update Status [Bungie.net]
With the arrival of iOS 11 comes the death of a longtime favorite for millions of gamers around the world: Flappy Bird. Yes, the most fun game ever conceived and created is officially unplayable as Apple’s mobile operating system will no longer support 32-bit games or something like that. To honor its far too early death, let’s all take a moment and think back to the wonderful times we had playing Flappy Bird.
…
…
Oh, that’s right, there aren’t any. That game was dumb, we were dumb for playing it, and any developer who copied the formula and put it on the goddamn Wii U eShop is the dumbest of us all.
Good riddance to bad rubbish as well as all rubbish because who wants rubbish hanging around. iOS 11 may or may not be cutting off access to your favorite mobile game depending on how old it is and how much money it made for the developers that they would care to update it, but if your beloved has gone the way of the Dodo, the Saint Helena olive, or the rational Twitter user, may I suggest trying to find a new mobile lover in Flat Pack.
Volgarr the Viking dropped in 2013 on PC, and eventually, Xbox One and Sony platforms, and I've made it a mainstay replay ever since.
It's a fantastic platformer that just flows so well, and is tough-as-nails, but not overly so in an unfair way. If you haven't had the chance to play it yet or pick it up on any number of its sales the past few years, you'll get the opportunity to play it on Switch (and Wii U) soon enough.
Developer Crazy Viking Studios has shared that "if all goes well," Volgarr will arrive on the eShop on October 5. You read that right -- Wii U is included in that mix funnily enough, which isn't all that weird since the Wii U still gets the occasional indie eShop release. As long as the port is sound, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Crazy Viking Studios [Twitter]
Microsoft had a fun announcement this week. All Xbox 360-era Halo games, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, are now backwards compatible for the Xbox One and Xbox One S. (Halo: Reach was already backwards compatible with the system). They aren't yet playable yet on the Xbox One X, but it's coming soon.
Source: Halo Waypoint
I'm pretty excited for Final Fantasy XIV's 4.1 patch.
Not only as a hardcore raider who finished Neo a little over a month ago, but as a general player who enjoys going through any and all forms of new content. The big draw for "early October's" upcoming The Legend Returns patch is Return to Ivalice -- which brings back the director of several classic Final Fantasy games to write the scenario for the Tactics themed 24-person raid. Now that the official 4.1 site is up we can finally get a good look at the raid itself, which is just as beautiful as I'd hope it would be.
In addition to Return to Ivalice there's also an extension of the main story, a new dungeon, housing updates (including the new Shirogane ward), and a special Super Savage fight, which will arrive a few weeks after 4.1 officially hits. I've been full i340 for a while waiting for that one!
The Legend Returns [Final Fantasy XIV]
