The procedurally generated, roguelike FPS game Immortal Redneck is now available on Nintendo Switch for $19.99. Being one of only two FPS games currently out on the platform, I'm sure fans of the genre will be eager to eat this up.
This is merely a port of the game, so no new or different content will be on offer. Still, getting to take a never ending shooter on the go could lead to me sitting in Grand Central long after my train arrives.
Stage 4 of the Overwatch League begins next week on May 16. It's kind of a monumental moment as it's the last five weeks before the first ever OWL playoffs, followed by the Grand Finals in New York.
Right now it's looking really good for the Boston Uprising and New York Excelsior, as they currently have a hefty lead over the rest of the pack heading into Stage 4. Odds are unless an act of God happens they'll both be in the playoffs. On the other side of the spectrum the Shanghai Dragons have had a rough first year at 0-10, and the Dallas Fuel aren't much better at 1-9; same goes for Florida Mayhem at 2-8.
When all of this playoff rush madness happens in Stage 4 though, it'll bring Brigitte, the newest member of the Overwatch team, into the mix. As a support she'll probably be mixing up the pro meta quite a bit, especially since it'll be her pre-nerf version. As confirmed on-screen from OWL analyst Josh Wilkinson, Stage 4 will be operating before the patch with Hanzo's drastic changes and Brigitte's nerf -- and the Tracer and Genji alterations for that matter.
It's been such a divisive choice that over 8,000 fans have signed a petition to get Blizzard to use the current patch in OWL Stage 4. There's probably no chance of Blizzard caving, so get ready to see the fully-powered Brigitte in less than a week.
The Predator franchise is coming back, and judging from the first trailer it kind of looks like it's coming back with an old school mentality. Shane Black's adaptation looks less like a re-imagining and more like a throwback, with the most basic of excuses to put a bunch of military people into the path of a new, upgraded Predator. That excuse is a small child pressing a button, it seems, which... yea, I'm OK with that. Kids ruin everything.
To be clear this isn't a reboot, but it's also not a direct sequel. OK, so that's not so clear. The movie takes place in the same universe at the very least. I'm guessing there will be hints of the original tossed in here and there, but mostly the film will function independently. Considering that 2010's Predators took place on a different planet, and the first movie never left the jungle, we've only got the not-so-good second film to contend with in terms of the wider world knowledge about Predators.
Will this be any good? I'm a fan of Shane Black's work on both Iron Man 3 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but who knows how well he'll be able to jump into sci-fi action horror. I'm already a little tepid on his screenplay because it's going the genetic modification route, which jumped the shark about five years ago. They also had to reshoot the last third of the film reportedly so that's never a great sign. On the other hand, suburbia is always a fun place to have a killer alien show up. Plus, they aren't even trying to hide what the Predator looks like, which is a good move since holding off the appearance of him for some stupid reveal near the end of the movie would be pretty stupid.
The Predator hits theaters September 14, 2018. You can read the plot description below.
The Switch is getting its own Monster Hunter game this summer, but unfortunately, it won't be the record-selling current-gen version, World. Last summer, Nintendo launchedMonster Hunter XX, a port of a 2016 3DS title, in Japan -- and now it's on its way to American shores. Monster Hunter: Generations Ultimate comes out for Switch in the US on August 28th.
Visually striking indie platformers aren’t really that new of a thing. Standing out from the crowd is hard to do in the overcrowded indie market, but sometimes a game comes along that looks so strikingly unique that you just have to take notice. Inked is one such game, utilizing an ink line art style to create a wonderfully realized environment mixed with some samurai-inspired character designs.
Sadly, for as beautiful as Inked may be, the gameplay is simply not up to snuff.
When did Nicalis appoint itself the queen of the crossover? This week the publisher has been dropping bombs for its upcoming fighter Blade Strangers. Now, before the onslaught of E3 reveals, it's pulling back the curtain on another crossover in the lamely named Crystal Crisis.
In keeping with Hamster's recent sporting re-releases, today sees SNK's football (or "soccer", if you'd prefer) sequel, Super Sidekicks 2, return to the pitch on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Released in Spring of 1994, probably to cash-in on the upcoming USA-hosted World Cup, Super Sidekicks 2 was made available in arcades and on the Neo Geo platform. A fairly standard but fun football title, players pick from a huge selection of International teams and compete in a non-FIFA approved "World Championship". My original tournament, do not steal.
Super Sidekicks 2 introduced new rules in keeping with The Beautiful Game, as well as the addition of fouls, penalty kick tie-breakers and golden goals. The control system was given an overhaul to allow control over multiple team members, and the size of the goals themselves was reduced.
Of all the World Cups I've lived through, U.S.A '94 sticks out the most. Maybe it was Diana Ross missing her shot during the opening ceremony, maybe it was the amazing coverage on UK comedy show The Day Today by Alan Partridge, or maybe it was just that dopey dog mascot, Striker. Funnily enough, I don't actually remember any of the matches.
Anyway, if you want to relieve World Cup World Tournament '94, then Super Sidekicks 2 is available now on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, priced around $8.
In case you forgot, Microsoft has a big ol' poll that asks its userbase what it wants to see become backward compatible on Xbox One. It's been in operation for a while, but I've seen the page pop up a few times recently and some of you were in disbelief that it existed -- so here's your reminder.
Right now the big leagues involve Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with nearly 200,000 votes, closely followed by Skyrim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Next up in the below 100,00 club is GTA: San Andreas, then Arkham City.
Before you call bullshit on this whole list, there is definitely some merit to it. Even just recently Dragon Age 2 made it to Xbox One, and that's right up there in the running on the front page of the poll with 32,951 votes. This tool is likely a great barometer for third parties to gauge interest, and it seems to be working, even on a small scale.
So if you want to see some wacky Xbox or Xbox 360 game on your Xbox One at some point, go for it!
Another sombre trailer has been released by Starbreeze Studios, building the hype for in-development co-op shooter Overkill's The Walking Dead. Like the excellent Maya trailer last month, this short takes a look at one of the player protagonists; Grant.
Grant is a somewhat older gentleman making his way through the Walker-filled world, seemingly on a mission to track down his lost grand-daughter. Though the zombie apocalypse can be a pretty barren place, Grant has at least found a pal to keep him company.
Although not quite as well done as the Maya video, Grant is still an interesting and dramatic short, telling the story of a lifetime in a few relatable words. Here's hoping, unlike Dead Island before it, the intensity of these trailers transfer to the finished game, which is hoping to encourage teamwork, character skills and ingenuity as the key to player survival.
Overkill's The Walking Dead launches on PS4, PC and Xbox One this Fall.
Maybe it's just the Tolkien reader in me, but there's something even more insidious about shoving exploitative schemes into a project based on a Tolkien license. I never once even clicked on the microtransaction menu in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but the fact that it was there in a single-player game just felt wrong. Well, now they're gone. A lot of us won't forget that they were added in the first place, but we don't have to deal with them anymore.
As part of its Desolation of Mordor update this week the ability to purchase gold (read: microtransactions) is gone, though WB is leaving a rather large window open for players who previously had some to use in the market -- you have until July 17 to do that. So if your're currently backpacking across Europe and have a horde of gold to use, you have over two months to get home. If you miss the cutoff, you'll get Gold Loot Chests for every 150 gold you have -- holding less than 150 will net you one chest.
There's no doubt it was a result of fan feedback, and possibly the Tolkien estate, but WB's backing down on loot boxes is in stark contrast to EA's doubling down on them. Now that's not to say that WB has "learned its lesson," per se, but this is one case where they, slowly and eventually, decided to take out a money-making arm right as a major DLC was dropping.
Arc System Works have released the opening movie for their upcoming team-fighter BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. The game, first announced back at EVO 2017, will see characters from four franchises step up to throw down.
The animated opening features the stylish guys and gals of BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth and RWBY as they pose and taunt dramatically to that same-sounding metal that appears on all of these anime game openings.
An open beta for the PS4 edition of the game will be available this week from May 12 to May 14, featuring 20 characters, who you can run with in Online Vs, Training Mode and Local VS, although only digital pre-order customers can fight locally against another human player. After the beta ends, an offline demo will be made available on the PlayStation Store with a severely-reduced roster.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle launches on PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch in Japan on May 31. It will follow a week later on June 5 in North America, with Europe to follow sometime this Summer.
The ports of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy were originally set to launch in July, but Activision has announced that they've been moved up. You'll be able to WUMP your way through all three original Crash titles on June 29. Pre-orders are also live on digital storefronts, with a quick glance at Steam revealing a $39.99 price point (though still a July 10 date).
Despite information about the physics being borked, I'm still interested in the N. Sane Trilogy. I never picked it up on PS4 because there were rumblings of ports shortly after its release. Now that it is coming to PC, I might just have to make the jump.
It's a common theme to see the Switch get both old and new releases in any given week, and it's the same case here until a lot of studios get in front of the curve.
On Switch you'll find Battle Chasers: Nightwar, Garage, NeoGeo Super Sidekicks 2, Terra Cresta, Hyper Sentinel, Immortal Redneck, InkSplosion, LFO Lost Future Omega, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition, Splitter Critters, Suicide Guy, Super Chariot, The Adventures of Elena Temple, The Fall, The Mystery of the Hudson Case, Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition, and Wizard of Legend.
The 3DS is getting a pretty big release compliments of Atlus, the portable life-supporter, with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux on May 15. It's also getting Up Up Bot.
For awhile, it seemed Capcom and Nintendo had a good thing going with Monster Hunter. Fans in the West were getting the updated "Ultimate" copies of games on 3DS and Capcom even brought over the pseudo-greatest hits game Generations to Western 3DS systems. Then came the Japanese announcement of XX (basically Generations 2) and nothing about the West. After that, a Switch port was announced, but still no word of a Western release.
I guess following in the massive success of Monster Hunter World, Capcom has now announced that Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate will be coming to the West on August 29. If you've been a 3DS loyalist, you'll be happy to know that your save data from Generations can actually be ported to Generations Ultimate to continue your journey.
The Capcom blog has a bunch of information about the new monsters included from XX, but this won't be news to fans that have been following the Japanese release. What will be interesting is if people who imported XX will be able to use their save data. Regardless of that, here is a trailer to get you HYPED!
According to this week's issue of Japanese publication Weekly Jump, Nintendo have some news to share about their cheerful arena-shooting IP Splatoon, news that will apparently "shock the world".
That's all we're given to go on, so it could be anything. Are Pearl and Marina being replaced by new hosts? say it ain't so! Is Splatoon 2 getting ported to PC or some other platform? Or is it time to face the music and accept that Splatoon 2 is about to become the next in a long line of franchises about to announce a dang Battle Royale mode?
Whatever it is, we won't have to wait too long to find out, as Nintendo will bestow the shocking news upon us on June 9. Which is one week before the floodgates open on the headline fest that is E3.
Splatoon news on June 9 will "shock the world" [Weekly Jump / Ryokutya2089]
Remember Star Wars Battlefront II? Well it wasn't that long ago so you probably do. It earned the ire of Star Wars fans, players, and the press at large due to its heavily gating loot box system, and sort of blew the lid open on the entire practice -- prompting multiple worldwide gambling regulators to investigate loot boxes. We're nearly there in terms of possible sanctions (Hawaii has several bills in the works), but not quite.
So far not a whole lot has come from it (several countries like China already had regulations in place that would force publishers to show rarity percentages), and evidently, EA didn't learn a whole lot from the whole affair. EA CEO Andrew Wilson says it pretty plainly during a recent Q4 year-end investor call, stating: "[Regarding loot boxes] We’re going to continue to push forward. We’re always thinking about our players. We’re always thinking about how to deliver these types of experiences in a transparent, fun, fair, and balanced way for our players."
Just in case you thought the whole loot box thing was over, it's still very much alive. I mean we knew that already with the billions that companies are making off slot machine gacha games and the abundance of "cosmetic" loot box archetypes (Overwatch), but it's interesting to hear that EA is doubling down on it.
A group of Battlefield 1 fans have been hard at work solving a mysterious puzzle within EA's WWI shooter. Having finally put some of the pieces together, it appears that there is a big reveal on the horizon for the franchise.
The first step required the players to open a locked door on the game's Fort Vaux map. Once the gained access to the room, marked "Isolement" by activating a specific sequence of hidden buttons, spelling out the aforementioned word. Players can then enter a chamber featuring numerous clues, such as a creepy painting of a horse and some dripping pipes.
Upon further investigation, it has been discovered that the pipes drip in Morse Code, the deciphered code being a website address: "Neverbethesame" with the site itself simply stating "May 23 2018". What a cool and clever little bit of promotion. There are other elements of the Isolement room that are being worked on by the mystery solvers on the Battlefield Easter Egg Discord.
Obviously it looks like EA have big plans for the popular franchise going ahead. Clearly we will find out more on the fabled date, with more information likely to follow at E3, which takes place in Los Angeles next month.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew brought VR space exploration to fans, but the game's ship, the USS Aegis, might not line up with your Next Generation fantasies. Ubisoft is righting that wrong with a DLC expansion pack that will let you ply the galaxy in Captain Picard's ship, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. It includes not just the vessel, but the TNG-era uniforms, Romulans, the Borg and their Cube ship, Data-like androids and new shield modulation and phaser mechanics.
The Forest is a survival horror game in a very literal sense. It has all the survival elements you'd expect, such as gathering materials to construct your base and craft items, to managing various stats such as hunger, stamina, and even sanity. But, it's the horror aspect of The Forest that truly separates it from other games within the survival genre.
You play the unluckiest survival expert and father in the world, as your plane crashes on a remote peninsula and your son is kidnapped by a mysterious red figure. If that's not bad enough, once you begin exploring your surroundings and searching for your son, you'll soon discover this place isn't so remote after all.
You may hear a few twigs snap behind you, maybe you'll hear odd screeching in the middle of the night, or maybe you'll simply stumble into one of their camps. Either way, you'll soon be greeted by the mutant cannibal creatures that call this place home and who already made short work of your fellow plane passengers. It's then what you do from there that makes this game special.
This is what I like to see! Developers doing really interesting things with the Switch, just like several studios did with the Wii U (Rest in Piece).
Evidently the Japanese developer Gift Ten Industry is creating a project that's codenamed Madolica, and will arrive in Japan for 1,500 yen in an eShop-only format on Switch. The gist? You'll need to escape an evil mansion in-game, with the help of real life-printed maps from the game's official site. It supports up to four players, and naturally, you can take it to a game night along with the maps on the go, as it's built to focus on portable play.
As someone who has regular tabletop nights, I'd immediately give this a shot, especially for roughly $15. There's no word on a localization yet, but it might be possible to "import" it on the eShop and play it worldwide if it doesn't require too much knowledge of Japanese.
SNK have revealed details on their upcoming retro device, the Neo Geo Mini. As expected, it is indeed the console that was leaked just before the weekend and replicates the MVS cabinets that filled many an arcade room in the '90s.
The unit stands a little over six inches tall and five inches wide. The control panel features a classic joystick and ABCD button layout (although the buttons are stacked, rather than aligned). You can play all of its built-in classic games on the Mini's 3.5 inch LCD screen, or you can connect the device to a TV through HDMI.
There are USB ports with which to connect external controllers which, according the rumours last week, are designed in the style of the Neo Geo CD pads of yesteryear. The Mini also houses a headphone jack. There will be two variations of the Neo Geo Mini, to reflect the differing MVS cabinet designs in Japan and overseas.
Although SNK have not yet revealed an official list of the forty games housed within the dinky unit, these too may have been already revealed, including obvious titles such as Samurai Shodown II, King of Fighters '98, Metal Slug, Real Bout 2: The Newcomers and Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
SNK are yet to announce a date or price for the Neo Geo Mini.
Google I/O is in full swing, and accordingly we have everything you need to know about upgrades coming to Android, Maps and Google Lens. Plus, you should check out the new UPS trucks and the latest effort to save net neutrality.
You can game on the Switch in various ways, but if you want to charge while playing in Tabletop mode, you'd have to be creative in finding ways to prop it up. Even if you do find a way, you're at risk of ruining its cord, considering its charging port is at the bottom. Nintendo's thankfully fixing that problem by releasing a $20 accessory, which serves as a charger and an adjustable stand.
Steam Link already brings your PC's games to your living room, but soon it will send them to other devices, too. Sometime during the week of May 21st, Valve will release dedicated apps for iOS and Android, which will work with smartphones, tablets and TVs. So long as everything is connected to the same 5Ghz network or Ethernet-cabled to the host system, you'll be able to play across your family of gadgets -- and even support peripherals like the Steam or MFI controllers.
