Robert Yang is known for making free homoerotic games such as Succulent, a game about deep-throating corn dogs, and Stick Shift, a game about jacking off a car's stick shift. While Yang's previous titles took a more comical twist on gay sex, this latest release is a lot more serious, sort of.
The Tearoomis based on a hidden surveillance camera sting carried out in 1962 by the police in Mansfield, Ohio (a city I've frequently been in my entire life). The police set up a two-way mirror and filmed local gay men having sexual contact with each other, then used said footage to put them behind bars for a year or more under the now-defunct sodomy laws the state had at the time. The game's name comes from the slang term used to designate bathrooms used for cruising (hooking up with strangers in public), tearooms.
During the PS2 days, the Culdcept franchise was one those things that caught my eye, since the idea of having a board game with creature cards sounded interesting. Unfortunately, other titles grabbed my attention so I missed out on playing this series.
Thanks to NIS bringing the series' latest game, Culdcept Revolt, to the West, I might get to fix this little problem of mine. Speaking of which, it turns out that the title has been delayed to Oct. 3 for North America and Oct. 6 in Europe. Luckily, this situation isn't too bad since Aug. 29 and Sept. 1 were the original launch dates for the two regions.
According to Siliconera, NIS' reasoning for the delay was because they wanted "to accommodate the manufacturing and production of the game." On the bright side, we received a new trailer that talks about the board game's cards. Based on the stuff I heard about the 3DS title, Culdcept Revolt is giving me a bit of a Dokapon Kingdom vibe; however, I doubt that it will turn your best friends into your worst enemies.
In awesome, equestrian-based '80s toy news, My Little Pony: The Movie just released its first official trailer, and boy oh boy, did it deliver! I know I speak for the entire Flixist staff when I say this two-and-a-half minute marketing gem is just delightful and truly represents the brand we’ve all come to hold dear to our hearts.
For the uninitiated (and let me apologize now, because you are missing out!), My Little Pony: The Movie, is the feature film adaptation of the long-running television series sweetness My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic which first aired in October of 2010. The series already spans 169 episodes, but as any real Brony (again, for the uninitiated, Bro-Pony; my personal handle being Ja Brony) knows, you simply cannot have enough of a good thing. And if that’s true for good things, it must be true for great ones! Hasbro has made good on promises and is delivering what is quickly shaping up to be the sleeper hit of the year—it wouldn’t surprise me to see Ponies at all the big award shows next year.
All of our favorites are back! Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong); Applejack and Rainbow Dash (Ashleigh Bell); Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman); and Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain) are all back and better than ever, digitally remastered for their dazzling debut on the big screen. IMHO, I would have been OK with Applejack sitting this one out. She’s just such a know-it-all and frankly, I don’t think that attitude has any home in Equestria (the magic land the Mane 6 live in!). It just doesn’t speak to the values embraced by the show: honesty, generosity, loyalty, and kindness. Not to mention friendship! Obviously! I told you the movie’s based off a show called Friendship is Magic.
But on to the trailer … it has everything! Bears. Roided-out bro ponies. Balloon animals. Karate. Dramatic waterfall plunges. Underwater dubstep clubs. Sword fights—it has sword fights! Fist (hoof) bumps. Cake-splosions and cupcake fights, friends! And did I mention the soundtrack? Did they hire One Direction, or what? I’m so excited right now I can barely contain myself—which may be a problem, as I’m a 34-year-old man waiting in the middle of a Mavis Discount Tire watching My Little Pony videos on my laptop while giggling uncontrollably.
Take a look at this sparkling example of cinematic bliss and let us know what your thoughts in the comments below! I’d also be curious to know which of the Ponies is your favorite! And if not one of the Mane 6, don’t be shy! There are over 200 characters to choose from in the Ponyverse, after all.
If this is all new to you, it's one of those games that's much better experienced than explained. You'll glide around a funky low-poly world, collect some crap, and visit an art museum. Then things get weird.
For returning players, Bubsy 3D now has an epilogue, which you can play right from the start.
Lastly, cheat codes -- don't you dare forget about cheat codes.
There aren't too many similarities between Bloodborne and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They play wildly different from one another. The dimly lit gothic architecture of Yharnam is a far cry from Skyrim's snow-capped mountains. One has a thing for aliens and menstrual blood. The other, well, it's more concerned with arrows and knees.
But a talented modder by the name of Vicn managed to blend both worlds together. Vicn's transported Bloodborne's hunters, trick weapons and all, to Skyrim in the Glenmoril mod.
At the end of its 2017 content roadmap for Watch Dogs 2, Ubisoft promised a Party mode in which four players would be able to tear up San Francisco together and also team up for activities. It's almost ready. The mode will be available on Tuesday, July 4 as part of a free update.
"The cops will be there. You could try to take down the Red Zones. Everything that's in the city of San Francisco will be there, so you can immediately have some fun exploring San Francisco with four people," said producer Kris Young. "Then, at any time, you can launch the activities that support the 4-player Party – Bounties, Invasions, Loot Trucks, Races, Showd0wn, Man VS Machine Robot Fights, and the DedSec Virus events are all available for you to have fun with."
This free-play format speaks to me more than some of the competitive stuff. On that note, Ubisoft says Party mode is meant to be "more about cooperation than competition, so anything that happens in this mode will not affect leaderboard standings." It's gonna be chaotic.
The update also brings the ability to skip the cinematic when you're using the 3D printer, fixes for the shuffler takedown and outfits not unlocking as intended, and stability improvements.
Fan games are always just a cease and desist away from being dashed into oblivion. We see it all the time. Companies have a legal interest in protecting their properties, and unilaterally shutting down fan games is often the only plausible course of action. Nintendo is the most notorious example, and it has garnered some ill will over the years because of it.
These scenarios don't always end negatively, though. A Halo fan game is set to live on because it got the explicit approval to proceed from 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios. The team behind Installation 01recently wrote that it had a productive conference call with 343 executives who gave the blessing to eventually release the game.
There are, however, a few conditions. In order to retain proper legal separation, the Installation 01 creators can't profit in any direct way. That means that it has to release the game for free, it can't accept donations, and it can't sell any merchandise that's based on the game; selling merchandise that's based on the studio is permitted.
As long as it stays non-commercial, Installation 01 has the green light. All things considered, that's a pretty fantastic turnout -- especially since many fan games only live on through torrent sites. Installation 01 won't be an official Halo product, but at least the Halo gatekeepers recognize and respect that it's coming from a place of love and passion.
It's been long enough since I last bought a game compilation that I'm one-hundred percent on board with Namco Museum. It also helps that 1) it's coming to Nintendo Switch, which is where most of my local multiplayer currently happens, and 2) it contains Pac-Man Vs., a true party-game legend.
Bandai Namco has confirmed a July 28, 2017 release for Namco Museum on the Switch, along with a couple other details. For instance: you can play vertically "for a taller, slimmer screen that replicates the original arcade experience." That's something I always wished more titles supported.
There's one other key point to mention. In order to play Pac-Man Vs. as it was intended, you'll need to have two separate Switch units -- one for the three ghost players, and one for the Pac-Man player. That's a road block if you don't know anyone else with a Switch, but it's understandable given how the game was designed. That said, there is a "Single Console (1-3 Players)" option in which you "catch Pac-Man as many times as you can to reach the target score" but don't get to play as him.
As a reminder, along with Pac-Man Vs., this collection includes Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, Galaga '88, The Tower of Druaga, Rolling Thunder, Rolling Thunder 2, Sky Kid, Splatterhouse, and Tank Force.
Yooka-Layleejust got a big ol’ patch for the PC and in the near future this will be applied to the console versions later. Yooka-Laylee was well received overall, but a little divisive among the Banjo fans who were really clamouring for its release, with jarring reviews drastically swinging from extreme negatives to gushing positives. People complained the game felt empty, was buggy, and had several irritating components including a divisive quiz component, and the Rextro mini-game elements that people criticized as poorly conceived and tossed in haphazardly in order to pad out the overall content. Others say it felt like a true follow-up to Banjo-Kazooie and that it lived up to their high expectations. But here we are: it came, a lot of people seemed generally satisfied with it, and although the initial hype has worn off the game isn't finish its run yet with an impending release on the Nintendo Switch coming that could bring in a whole new slew of fans and critics alike in the coming months.
Bungie has finally given us some dates and times for Destiny 2's beta, and if it's anything like the first, it'll be particularly meaty. It's also confirmed that it'll contain at least one story mission, a Strike (dungeon) and a little PVP.
By way of pre-orders you'll be able to play it on PS4 first on July 18 at 10AM PT, followed by July 21 access at that same time in an open format. The Xbox One beta kicks off a day later on July 19 at 10AM PT, and will also open up on July 21. PC access unfortunately is scheduled for "late August," which is right before the game is even out on consoles in September (the full PC edition will hit a month later in October).
I'm cautiously optimistic for how this will work on PC, especially given the staggered release date. Given how fast my group tears into Destiny we'll likely be raid-ready within a week (if that), and by the time the PC version does get here I'll already be knee deep in raid gear.
Xbox Game Pass is set to enter its second month of existence, and the program came out swingin'. The Netflix-like (but not really) subscription service launched with more than 100 games and it added to that tally yesterday. Microsoft has said that it'll add a minimum of five titles every month.
But, Xbox Game Pass isn't going to grow indefinitely. Eventually games will leave the service as new ones are swapped in. When that happens, players will want to know so that they can try to finish something before it disappears. Fortunately, Microsoft has a reasonable plan in place.
We asked Microsoft how it intends to handle this inevitable scenario, and we were told that people will get a heads-up before it happens. "When a game rotates out of Xbox Game Pass, fans will be notified a few weeks in advance before it is removed from a catalog," a representative said.
We also inquired as to when the first delisting is scheduled. We were told that "Current games in the Xbox Game Pass catalog won't leave until November." That means the shortest lease Microsoft has right now is five months long. That's subject to change as new contracts are negotiated with publishers, but it seems like anything less than three months wouldn't be worth adding to the program.
When November rolls around and games are delisted, it's probably safe to assume that it won't be too many at once. Microsoft's main marketing push around Xbox Game Pass is that it features more than 100 titles. It can't really ever drop below that number. But, some stuff will go away because that's the nature of the beast. At least we'll get fair warning before it happens.
Mobile games can make a ton of money, with titles like Clash of Clans making billions of dollars for their respective developers. Square Enix has been active in mobile gaming with titles based on its own popular role-playing games, with original free-to-play titles like Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius and premium ports of older titles like Final Fantasy IX. Now, the veteran publisher has just released another free-to-play game to Android and iOS, titled Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. Square Enix may hope to bring new fans to the series it's based on while also encouraging fans of the console game to give it a go. It's just too bad the game is (so far) kind of an inscrutable mess.
Nickelodeon and a handful of other investors -- including professional sports-team owners -- have just thrown $15 million at Super League Gaming, an organization that holds amateur eSports tournaments in movie theaters across the US for kids, teens and adults. Super League is best known for its national Minecraft championship, which last year paid out $15,000 to a winning team of kids age 10 to 14, though it also regularly holds nationwide League of Legends tournaments for players of any age.
Koei Tecmo has revealed today that Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon will be heading to North America on October 24 and Europe on October 27. The game will be releasing on the PlayStation 4, PC, and will be the company's first title on the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, much like with the first Nights of Azure, the Vita version will not be receiving an international release.
We've been keeping you abreast of just about every amiibo happening since the "Holy Trinity" debacle, and it feels good. I've met so many great people as a result of this wretched hobby, and it still isn't over yet. While I initially thought that Nintendo had cooled down on amiibo several months ago, they went and announced six exclusives (a practice they hadn't done in over a year) and 13 more figures were revealed at E3. So what's next now that the Zelda trio just dropped at Best Buy, Amazon and GameStop?
Well, we have the two variations each of Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta coming up on July 21, which have one exclusive each called the "Player 2" version (Cloud = GameStop, Corrin = Amazon, Bayonetta = Best Buy). That same day a new Splatoon trio will arrive that includes the Inkling Girl, Boy and Squid. On July 28 a single figure that houses five Pikmin will hit that interfaces with both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the upcoming Hey! Pikmin 3DS game.
Fast-forwarding to September 15 there's a Metroid (the creature, which can't crawl by the way)/Samus two-pack. On October 27 Wedding Mario, Peach and Bowser will hit for Super Mario Odyssey, and sometime in the undisclosed future (presumably for the launch of Fire Emblem Warriors) Chrom and Tiki. Finally, there's four more Breath of the Wild amiibo with a mystery 2017 window (likely alongside of the second DLC for Breath) and the Koopa and Goomba figures that are compatible with Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, the remake announced at E3.
As soon as new amiibo are announce I add them to this list, so feel free to keep it bookmarked!
A movie rental for a buck might be the only way I can justify watching the new Power Rangers reboot. Luckily, the Google Play store that will let me do just that, with substantive discounts on movies, television shows, apps, games, books and music all wrapped up in a massive summer-themed sale.
In a few months time, Targets, Best Buys, Wal-Marts and GameStops around the country will transform into Thunderdomes for the launch of the SNES Classic. When it was announced this week, the jokes started to fly. The poor handling of the NES Classic left a sour taste in many mouths. We all learned a lesson with that one and now we know going in Nintendo won't be making many SNES systems. But oh, what a system it is.
With just 21 games, including one that’s never been publicly released, the SNES Classic is a wonderful hodgepodge of some of the best games to hit the 16-bit wunderkind. There are many, many more that could and should be included, but for whatever reason failed to make the cut. From our list of the 30 best SNES games, I would most want to find room for the splendid TMNT: Turtles in Time. I mean the SNES was a beat ‘em up machine, a genre the Classic is missing.
Looking at the list, I asked myself what game I would take out of its line-up if, hypothetically, I were to add in Turtles in Time. No question, I would remove Super Mario Kart. Look, I get the game is groundbreaking, the first entry in one of the most beloved franchises in history, a series with no equal. I understand, but I also know should I ever get my hands on one of these, I will never play it. Why would I? I have Mario Kart 8 and it’s better than the original in every possible way.
I brought this up in the staff chat and got some interesting responses. Occams said he could do without the Kirby games while Joel Peterson, whoever the fuck that is, said his least exciting title is Super Punch Out. Now I want to know what you think. If Nintendo magically gave us the ability to add in that one game we wanted at the expense of one of the included titles, which game would you take out of the SNES Classic to make room for your favorite?
Being a Brit, I've never really seen baseball outside of video games and movies, so I can only assume it's exactly like A League of Their Own, Field of Dreams, and Neo-Geo classic Super Baseball 2020, which is returning on the PS4 and Xbox One, courtesy of Hamster.
Originally released in 1991, the game optimistically predicted referee-bots, teleporters, mixed-gender ballgames, and an outfield littered with landmines. More like Field of Screams. To be fair, it's only 2017, the MBA still has time to implement these ideas, so SNK's crystal ball is yet to be proven wrong. In the meantime, Super Baseball 2020 will have to suffice, and is available for download today priced $7.99.
Now get out there and umm.. score a touchdown, or something.
Online game key marketplace G2A is taking another stab at making its site more secure for developers by implementing changes that will impact both resellers and customers. The company announced on Thursday that key sellers on its site will be required to reveal their name and address, having previously been allowed to operate anonymously.
It's an absolutely packed Nintendo Download for smaller releases, capped off by RPG Maker FES, 6180 the moon, and Mighty Gunvolt Burst on 3DS. The Switch is hosting De Mambo and Gonner (finally) and the Master Trials DLC for Zelda: Breath of the Wild (tomorrow), as well as NeoGeo: Magical Drop II. The Wii U is even getting some love with Bonk 3, Preston Sterling, and Devil's Crush.
It's still weird to see Mario Kart 8 Deluxe get updates that the original Mario Kart 8 could easily have, but that ship has sailed now. That good ship Wii U has sailed into the fog, yes, never to be seen again. They gave it less love than Sony still gives the Vita. No, I'm not bitter at all -- let's talk about the Switch.
So! Deluxe just got a massive update on Switch, which includes several features and a bunch of tweaks for online play. For one there's a new Pikmin costume if you use the Pikmin amiibo, which is separate from the Olimar outfit.
In terms of online matches players who are behind will get more "catch-up" items, several glitches like constantly spinning item wheels have been fixed, and online races will now end 30 seconds after the first place person finishes.
It's a bunch of small but welcome stuff that helps keep the online element alive -- if enough of these bugs piled up you'd have a complete ghost town. I'm still happy that fire hopping is gone so newcomers can jump in without fear of losing outright.
Back in October of last year when Modern Warfare Remastered was originally revealed as a pre-order bonus for Infinite Warfare, there was a bit of text that read, "game disc must be inserted to play." While it was understandable for when MWR was locked to a pre-order, you'd think the restriction would have been lifted when the game went standalone.
It turns out, Activision is just as greedy as we all thought. If you nabbed MWR from the Legacy or Legacy Pro Edition of Infinite Warfare, then you're going to be keeping that game if you want to experience the "Mile High Club." This also goes for people who opted for the digital version; you'll need to have Infinite Warfare installed to even boot the remaster.
I'm not sure why this stipulation is in place. Activision has nothing to gain by forcing people to retain their copies of Infinite Warfare, but the digital version is doubly puzzling. Your platform of choice should have DRM associated with your purchase, so insisting on an install of the newer game is just plain mean. Since both games take up something like 120 gb, that is eating away roughly 1/5th of a 500 gb hard drive.
My only guess is that this inconveniences enough people that they then pony up for the standalone release, effectively buying MWR twice. I'd be angrier if I had any intention of nabbing the remaster, but the inclusion of microtransactions basically killed my desire. I can happily play the original without bogus requirements.
Crash always marched to the beat of a different drum -- but unlike Bubsy, his drum wasn't loaded with explosives, Keith Moon style. He rose above the drove of mascot platformers and literally clawed his way up to stardom. For a bit.
Now Crash is very much a relic of the past, a property that Activision parades out every so often to remind us that he exists. Until this week.
When Nintendo announced the SNES Classic earlier this week, nerd hearts everywhere were aflutter at another opportunity to relive old gaming glory. There was a hint of caution, though, as fans remembered how demand for Nintendo's first retro console -- the NES Classic -- wildly outpaced supply when it launched last fall. The company hopes to forestall shortages this time around, and has improved a few other things (like adding a few feet to the controller cables). Either way, make your peace with the SNES Classic when it lands on September 29th. It'll probably be the last retro console Nintendo releases.
Spider-Man films have been through all sorts of ups and downs. What was once the biggest comic book property on film has since been the victim of studio craziness, failed attempts, and just an overall bad reception by the time The Amazing Spider-Man 2 rolled around. It got so out of hand (Sony almost produced an Aunt May origin film), Sony eventually agreed to work with Marvel in an unprecedented licensing deal which'll hopefully help both companies in the long run.
As the third iteration of the Spider-Man franchise in just 15 years, Spider-Man: Homecoming has a lot riding on its shoulders. It may have a gotten a good lead-in from Captain America: Civil War, but there were just so many ways it could have failed. Luckily, it didn't.
Spider-Man: Homecoming feels like the most natural Spider-Man story put to film, and somehow wasn't swallowed by the Marvel Cinematic Universe juggernaut. I know it's a cliche, but the third time really is the charm.
Good news, everyone: after no small amount of hype, you can revisit the Futurama universe on your phone. Jam City's TinyCo has released Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow for free on both Android and iOS. It's clearly another not-so-subtle attempt to cash in on a much-loved TV series, but this title promises to do more than trade on a familiar name. It has a relatively rich story created by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen and a writing team from the show, and the original show cast is on tap for dialogue. However, the most intriguing part may be its extremely varied gameplay -- it's more ambitious than many console or PC titles in some ways, even if it's not necessarily as deep.
You've probably already beaten Limbo and Inside from Danish development team Playdead. But if you've wanted a physical version of the pair, that hasn't been available. Well, until now. Publisher 505 Games is partnering with the studio to put its macabre sidescrollers onto store shelves in one package for $30. If you're doing the math, that's the same price as buying the digital bundle on PSN or each game separately. Except, of course, you're getting a disc-based version.
This morning, we're talking hidden smartphone fingerprint readers, 77-inch paper-thin TVs for a 'mere' $20k and a global ransomware cyberattack that might not even be ransomware. We'll explain that last one further, we promise.
In 1980, while dancing around what can only be described as the second gayest roller rink ever caught on film, Kira – aka Terpsichore, aka one of the nine Muses, aka the goddess of dance and music – sang of a place nobody dared to go with a love we came to know. They call it Xanadu. It’s the proverbial utopia, a paradise, utter perfection; something Tokyo Xanadu isn’t anywhere near.
