PlayStation
- This May’s PlayStation Plus games have been revealed and they’re, well, quite old. Subscribers of the service will received the original Overcooked along with What Remains of Edith Finch. While these games are both quite good, Overcook’s sequel is far superior and both titles can easily be found on steep sale.
Nintendo
- The Pokémon Company released a new app for mobile called Pokémon Pass that lets players obtain new Shiny Pokémon by scanning a QR code. It can let users know of special events.
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Hob: The Definitive Edition received an update to version 1.1.1 with a focus on improving the game’s resolution in handheld mode. Naturally I updated the title, took it for a spin, and am happy to report Hob does look noticeably better with a sharper image overall.
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Last week we reported (I think) that the VR updates to both Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey came with an added benefit for everyone—significantly snappier loading times. According to Switch software enthusiasts, it appears Nintendo cleverly snuck in a boost mode that allows CPU speed to reach 1.75GHz from its normal max of 1GHz, but only when loading games and only for titles that support it. I assume this is a system level feature we’ll see a lot of developers utilize in future updates—I’m looking at you My Time at Portia.
Xbox
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A little while back, Forza fans got a surprise when the Windows 10 game Miami Street was rebranded Forza Street. While the title is currently a free-to-play game only accessible on the Microsoft Store at the moment, it will soon be making its way to iOS and Android. That may not be the end though, as data miners have discovered multiple references in the source code for Nintendo Switch. While there isn’t an official announcement, the idea isn’t that hard to believe given Nintendo and Microsoft’s multiple partnerships late in this generation.
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Xbox Games Pass is getting some great new titles added soon:
* Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
* Wargroove
* Surviving Mars
* Tacoma
* Black Desert
* For the King
* The Surge
* LEGO Batman 3 -
If you aren’t a Games Pass member (and Tris and I think you should be as it only keeps getting better) you can expect these freebies for Games With Gold this month:
* Marooners
* The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA Tour
* Armageddon
* Comic Jumper
* Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon -
Solitaire is going to be honored in the Video Game Hall of Fame along with other industry icons Super Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat, both of which had undeniable influences in their respective genres and still do to this day.
Industry News
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On April 28, Steam user amusedsilentdragonfly became the one-billionth user to sign up for the PC digital storefront. The latest statistic I could find for newcomer Epic Game Store from is from March 22 putting the rival platform’s user base at 85M with apparently 40% of them not having Steam accounts.
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Speaking of epic, the company has continued its trend of scooping up exclusive deals, except this time they’ve bought Psyonix, makers of the massively popular vehicular soccer game Rocket League. Naturally, the studio is trying to spin this as a positive and is telling gamers it will now have access to more resources to support Rocket League’s competitive e-sports. The rub is that some time later this year, Rocket League will no longer be available on for purchase on Steam, though buyers of the Steam version will continue receive support.
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The Saints Row franchise is seeing a rebirth of sorts with the third entry in the series set to release on Switch later this month. Now, news outlet Deadline is reporting that a movies is in the works with Gary Gray, who directed Straight Outta Compton and Men in Black: International, heading up the new film with Mortal Kombat reboot writer Greg Russo said to be penning the script.
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Game studio DotEmu announced that LizardCube’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap has sold nearly half a million copies since its launch back in 2017 on PC and consoles, and now, the Sega Master System remake will also be coming to iOS and Android later this month.
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Have you heard? The original team who created Earthworm Jim are back together and announced they’re making an official new entry in the series with Earthworm 3! The downside? The title will be exclusive to the upcoming Intellivision Amico, Intellivision’s upcoming stab at modernizing their brand with a “disruptive” console. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the ROM gets dumped.
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In its latest financial briefing, SEGA revealed it didn’t do too well in its 2018 with the company’s yearly profits plummeting over 70% to around $24M. The company plans to bounce back by doubling down on popular franchises like Persona, Yakuza, and Sonic while also releasing a few remasters and re-releases.
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TheThe Oculus Quest is the most innovative virtual reality headset since the arrival of the original Rift and Vive. What makes Quest so unique is that it’s an all-in-one headset that doesn’t require being tethered to a PC, it’s fully wireless, and it does not need external sensors to support room scale VR. Instead, users enter a room and perform a setup that takes a matter of seconds to complete and the Quest will remember the boundaries from room to room. The price is favorable too. While still not quite mainstream in price, it’s a far better option at $399 for the 64 GB option or $499 for the 128 GB option, and both of which come with the headset and two controllers. Oculus Quest will be available May 21, 2019.
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Speaking of VR, Valve is entering the market with a headset that plans on being the complete opposite of the Quest with a price tag of $1,000 for the headset, controllers, and two room sensors. The way it boils down is the headset and controller pair are $750, the headset alone is $500, the remotes are $280 out of bundle, and each base station will run you $150. Oh, and it’s not self-contained and needs to be tethered to, you know, a beefy PC. And beefy means expensive. While PSVR and Quest can’t match the visual fidelity of Valve’s Index headset, they destroy it in terms of price and simplicity. Oh, and they both have pretty good libraries to choose from.
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Bungie said they’re rebalancing two of Destiny 2’s most powerful weapons used in competitive multiplayer: Luna’s Howl and Not Forgotten when the Season of Opulence update goes live in June.
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If for some reason you love NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 and have friends that own it on rival platforms, you can smile in the fact that a new update enables cross-play support between Switch, Xbox One, and PC.
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If you can’t get enough Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix has got you covered. Hot on the heels of the Critical Mode update, the title is set to receive new free keyblades as well as a new form for all players. There will also be new paid content titled ReMIND along further paid DLC called a limit episode and a secret episode. Both episodes will contain a new boss, while the Japanese version will receive English voice acting as an option.
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We got our first full trailer for the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie and, well, Sonic looks like shit. Like the dumbest meme come to life. Although Jim Carrey plays a good Dr. Robotnik. The backlash was so severe that the film’s director Jeff Fowler responded on twitter with the following message
The message is loud and clear. You aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be.
He then followed it #gottafixfast. There’s no denying that this is going to be a massive undertaking not only time wise but I’m sure financially as well. I honestly don’t think they’ll recoup their losses, but maybe I’ll go see it on principal that they respect the community enough to fix it.
