Games | BarrelRolled

Salt and Sanctuary released for Nintendo Switch

August 5, 2018August 3, 2018 by David Wong

Salt and Sanctuary, a 2D hack-and-slash platformer released on the Nintendo Switch yesterday, the 2nd.

The game is also available on PS4, PC, and PS Vita and will also be released in digital and physical form. There will also be a collector’s edition called Salt and Sanctuary: Drowned Tome Edition which will launch sometime this “holiday” according to the developer Ska Studios. The game is being ported by BlitWorks, a Spanish developer who’s previously worked on Bastion, Spelunky, and Don’t Starve.

Ska Studios uploaded a new trailer for the game. It features some very nice artwork with plenty of hacking and slashing indeed:

It looks similar to Dark Souls with a lot of punishing combat and a few character classes. It uses a checkpoint system as you explore the world and typical boss encounters which you’ll struggle with unless you know the weak points and attack patterns. The player can also upgrade their abilities in order to unlock the world’s various zones.

The game follows a protagonist who’s been player-created. This character sails across the ocean to stop a war between two kingdoms. You’re then shipwrecked on an island and you must solve the puzzles behind an evil mastermind and survive the attacks by the hostile enemies on the island along with the traps and tricks.

Salt and Sanctuary is available now for the Switch. It has no exclusive content for this port, but if you’re looking for an awesome and distinctive platformer, you should consider this game.

Star Control: Origins releases Fleet Battles update patch – what’s new?

August 5, 2018August 2, 2018 by David Wong

Star Control: Origins, a space strategy indie game, just got a whole bunch of new updates in the Fleet Battles Beta patch.

Stardock, the developer, calls the update a major milestone in the game’s progress. It adds a few new ships, maps, weapons, and various improvements overall. The quality of life updates has also been implemented. The beta update is available to all players who pre-purchase the game.

The game is developed by Michigan-based company Stardock Entertainment. Star Control: Origins is the newest game in the series which began back in 1990. The game is different from earlier titles because it takes place in an alternate universe. Origins were announced back in 2016 and are available for PC via Steam on September 20th.

The Fleet Battles mode is probably the major update in this patch. It allows plates to build a fleet of starships and fight other fellers. Players can control fleet and battle enemy fleets, AI, or even with friends in local multiplayer. The game also now offers a fully integrated crafting system, which allows players to create, craft, and build, their own vessels and even share them with others in the Steam Workshop community.

A new gameplay feature has also been added to the game. Scavenging allows players to collect power-ups from destroyed ships found around the battlefields in the game. Each power-up allows players to get abilities like acceleration, restore energy, refill HP, and even get speed bursts.

There are also new ships added to the lineup in this update patch. Two new ships, the Kzinti Intimidator and the Arillou Observer, which both have their own unique features. The former is a “nimble ship equipped with deadly proximity mines and a Repulsor” while the latter can cloak. They both also have their weapon loadouts and players will receive new maps.

Performance improvements include an improved camera, UI, and multiplayer. Stardock has also released new content in the form of DLC, which add music, lore, and concept art. This is only available to players who pre-purchase the game.

Commodore 64 Mini (THEC64 Mini) launches on October 9th

August 2, 2018August 1, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

ThECE64 Mini (yes, that’s how it’s spelled), it’s coming out later in October. Like the Nintendo and Sega retro systems that have recently been released, the Commodore 64 is about to come out with its own spin on the retro take and jump on the bandwagon.

Based on a press release from the manufacturer, they’ve secured a release date of October 9th, 2018. It was first announced in 2017 and has now been updated with the confirmed release date.

For those who’ve never played with a Commodore 64 before, it’s a very complicated and fascinating setup. For starters, it was a home computer that used cartridges like you see in consoles like the SNES and NES. It also could run floppy discs. And it had a gigantic keyboard that had the ability to expand the capabilities of the system using add-ons. It also housed all the electronics of the system inside the keyboard, which explains the size.

PC gaming wasn’t really as mainstream as it nowadays during that time, so the C64 was one of the first systems to have a huge library of games for players to choose from and play inside the house. Some of these classics have now been ported to this system so players can experience a mini version one of the most popular computer systems ever built. For 90s kids, that’s hard to believe. But that was the case.

THEC64 Mini will come with 64 games and include a joystick. It’ll also have an HDMI cable for crisp retro gaming and USB cable for power. Updates for the computer will be uploaded via USB. There’s a flash drive attached to the Mini, which lets you add your own games to the device. They’re not as regularly as Nintendo it seems.

A number of retailers will carry the system and some already have it for pre-order. The North American version hasn’t announced any partners yet, but one can expect it to show up at GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, or even eBay for scalpers. A price hasn’t been annoyced either, but stay tuned for updates.

No Man’s Sky Next released – Now what’s next?

July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 by David Wong

The future of No Man’s Sky is already in the works and planned after their huge multiplayer update No Man’s Sky Next arrived last week. In a recent news post on their official page, Sean Murray, Lead Developer, thanked his team for making it through the highs and lows and sticking by the game even after the horrible launch in 2016 and silence period towards the community afterward.

Hello Games has now included the community’s input in their ARG Waking Titan over the past year. They’ve let the players build and craft its own lore in the Euclid Galaxy which is built on regions on influences between fan-made factions.

Murray wants to continue this player-induced effort in the creation of the Galactic Atlas, which is a platform that’ll contain major points of interest found in the Euclid Galaxy which were nominated by the fans in a survey. Players can still continue to develop it in the new update and Hello Games will now continue their new “community season” for some fresh feedback. The studio will be weekly content and events for all players soon- free of charge.

No Man’s Sky Next is the latest update to the game. Sean Murray also jokingly replied to a tweet by PC Gamer over the excitement of the game in two years after its launch. The Next update is a free update for PS4 and PC. So if you’re looking for a reason to pick up the game again, grab it and try it out. The game also launched for the Xbox One for the first time on the same day the patch rolled out.

oh no https://t.co/Se3TcC30te

— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) July 22, 2018

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games pulled from digital stores

July 30, 2018July 28, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 have been pulled from all digital purchasing platforms- Microsoft Store, PlayStation Store, and Steam. A user on Reddit reported the rude awakening earlier on the 26th.

This isn’t the first time Marvel games pulled a game from online stores. Deadpool is another example that’s exhibited this behavior multiple times already- twice from Steam and is still currently not available for purchase on the platform at the time of this writing.

The Marvel universe consists of many titles in many different series. It consists of big-name heroes, villains, and dozens upon dozens of lesser-known ones. The Ultimate Alliance games allowed players to team up fantasy selections of these characters and battle the villains. The games were known for their attention to detail, artwork, level system, and the game’s cosmetic costumes.

But regardless of these features, Ultimate Alliance and its Ultimate Alliance 2 can’t be purchased at the moment on those platforms. Players can still buy it in a bundle on HumbleBundle, but there’s no telling if and when it’ll be pulled from there also. If you’ve been thinking about getting this game, you should buy it now because it could disappear for some time if it’s anything like the Deadpool game. Seriously.

Pathfinder Kingmaker delayed – Announces editions and what’s included in each tier

July 27, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Pathfinder: Kingmaker developed by Owlcat Games has promised further updates for backers. It was delayed until September and the devs posted the plans for the extra content for the game, especially the pre-order versions of the game and clearing up confusion.

There will be 4 total versions of the game and each of them will include several goodies, like a Season Pass for major DLC after the game rolls out. The basic edition is called the Explorer Edition which consists of the base game and some minor DLC. It retails for $39.99. Next up is the Noble Edition which is priced at $54.99 and includes the base game, a digital art book, soundtrack, two in-game portraits, and some premium in-game items. The Royal Edition is next at $64.99 and comes with a digital map of the game’s world, Stolen Lands, and an in-game pet and tabletop RPG Adventure Module written by Chris Avellone.

The Imperial Edition is the biggest daddy of them all. Priced at $84.00, it comes with everything and the Season Pass. A lot of the game’s content will be released through several DLC packs, with 3 included in this edition. Backers have requested races, classes, and other content as there are no current details about what’s int he DLC packs. Owlcat will likely be adding these fan suggestions to the game.

Owlcat also points out that there will be about $40 of DLC. Backers who pledge $95 or more for beta access or $110 for pre-order sessions will get the season pass free.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is based on the Kingmaker Adventure Path and is the first real game made by Paizo with official rules. The game will launch in September for the PC.

Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut coming to Switch; What do you get?

July 25, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut is coming to Switch.

Wasteland 2 is a sequel to Wasteland 1, which is a spiritual predecessor of the Fallout series. Wasteland 2 features some team-based RPG action that focuses on having alternative solutions to pretty much everything int he game. For example, if you need to get across a checkpoint, you can persuade the guards, pick the lock, herd animals to distract the guards, or just run and gun. The game offers multiple branching paths for every situation in the game. That’s what makes it kinda special. But it’s not that rare nowadays anyway.

You have a wide range of skills in your squad and you can choose to use them at your disposal. How you choose your actions affects the outcome of the entire game. It’s one of those games where everything you do literally does something later on in the game.

Player decisions seem to be the new trend nowadays.

Wasteland 2 is already available for purchase. However, Nintendo is releasing Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, which includes extra perks, VOs, improved graphics, and a new precision strike system similar to the Fallout series style. Wasteland 2’s 30th-anniversary bundle was also recently announced and includes Wasteland 2, Wasteland 1: The Original Classic, and Wasteland: 30th Anniversary Edition Remaster which will include a remaster of the classic 1988 game.

Wasteland 3 is also in the works and will be announced in 2019 for other platforms.

Wrecking Ball joins the Overwatch Crew

July 24, 2018 by David Wong

Wrecking Ball will join the cast of Overwatch on July 24, 2018, based on a Tweet from the official Twitter account. Every year, Overwatch gets three new heroes to join the craze on almost a scheduled basis. Wrecking Ball, aka Hammond, is the newest of the bunch.

He’s just been placed on the Public Test Realm for players to mess around with. Originally, he was announced back in late June. His origin story video shows off that he’s pretty much a vermin in a mech similar to how Rumble is in League of Legends.

Wrecking Ball is a hamster if you want to be specific. He’s one of many genetical experiments that have taken place on Horizon Lunar Colony. He tied his escape pod to Winston’s shuttle as it launched for the earth and landed on the Australian outback. He then fought in mech battles in Junkertown and now he’s one of the bets.

He’s considered to be a tank and has abilities suitable for his role.

His primary weapon is his Quad Cannons which provide offensive firepower and he can also tuck into a ball for faster speeds. Players can also use a grappling claw in ball mode to slam into enemies or quickly get better positioning.

He also gets an adaptive shield which grants him a shield HP gain depending on nearby enemies. Piledriver allows him to slam his mech into the ground like a semi-ground pound from Mario. Minefield is his ultimate and deploys proximity mines all around him which is perfect for zoning enemies in the nearby area.

You can check out more info about Hammond here. He’ll be live for official play on July 24. Welcome to the gang, Hammond!

Staxel patch 1.3 – new quests, villagers, items, and a Friendship System

July 22, 2018 by David Wong

Staxel has just released version 1.3 which includes a few new features like a Friendship System, new festivals, and a lot more content updates.

If you’ve never heard of Staxel , it’s a game where players are cohabitating an island that has graphics very similar to Minecraft. Players are free to do what they want in the world, such as building, exploring, and interacting with others. The game even lets player relocate a whole town or build a giant city if they wanted. It’s like Minecraft in an alternate dimension.

In the 1.3 update, the first update is the Friendship System. It allows you to track your relationship with the city folk and doing things like interacting with them and talking with them will only get you the occasional gift and special Friendship Quests. You can also gift them and even have one move into your home as a roommate. The villagers also now have improved interaction with each other so it feels more like a village.

Staxel also received some new content in the form of festivals. Festivals allow players to earn rare items and do special in-game events. The announcement made by the developers on the Steam page didn’t go into detail as to what they are, so you’ll have to play the game to find out.

Other content includes new quests, items, and villagers. You can check out the full patch notes for the full list of updates in 1.3. Staxel’s new patch is now available to all players.

Steam Bans over 90,000 Steam Accounts

July 21, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Valve has now banned over 90K Steam accounts in an apocalyptical purge that spanned over the past few days. This is all from Valve’s VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) system. VAC is Steam’s proprietary anti-cheat system built into the majority of their first-party games and just a few third-party titles. It works by a complex process of monitoring gameplay data and banning any possibles signs of third-party tools or hack tools. It’s just like Punkbuster which is used in many popular games like the Battlefield series.

Valve’s swinging of the banhammer is nothing new. They come in waves and this time around they found over 60K players that were abusing games. SteamDB shows a data graph that depicts the huge and beautiful spike in user bans as Steam continues the cleansing process.

VAC bans are usually a one-time thing and there’s no way to restore your account back to fully active. Banned players lose a number of account privileges, such as playing on VAC servers, gifting other players, uploading content to the Steam community, voting on Workshop content, and more. They can still buy games, of course.

The biggest hit would be the loss of item trading. Games like CS: GO is one of many games where items fetch top dollar and are protected by VAC. Some items can be worth thousands of dollars. Players who were banned won’t be able to trade their items with other players. Valve will continue to ban hackers so if you have anything of value, don’t get caught or else risk getting slammed with Steam’s giant banhammer. It’s probably not worth it.

You can see some nice graphics depicting the ban here on SteamDB.

Enter the Gungeon’s free expansion Advanced Gungeons and Dragons coming July 19th

July 18, 2018 by David Wong

Advanced Gungeons and Draguns expansion is set to launch next week. It’s a free expansion to the cult roguelike Enter the Gungeon, which is available for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The expansion will have a ton of content which includes new items, enemies, ammo types, rooms, synergies, drop rates, and a lot more. The … Read more

Super Indie Karts “Ultra Update” races onto Steam Early Access

July 16, 2018 by David Wong

Super Indie Karts is a 16-bit kart racer that features drivers and tracks from a variety of games like Duck Game, Runbow, and Freedom Planet. The game is heavily inspired by the original Super Mario Kart with flat tracks and sharp, hairpin turns. 90s kids will remember that the original and Mario Kart 64 were the best of the bunch. And only 90s kids will be able to drown in the nostalgia of the VHS trailer for the Super Indie Karts’ Ultra Update. The update includes a whole slew of new features to the game which turns it into a more modern, yet retro classic.

Just jump around in this promo vid and you’ll see the similarity between the two games:

The “Ultra” release rolls out on July 19th and includes a whole new est of tracks that feature more obstacles, modern layouts, and an N64 design with polygonal shapes but keeps the original theme of the game. Super Indie Karts is obviously the type of indie mashup game you’d expect from a crowdfunded indie dev.

The game’s characters look the same with their original sprites but they’re on newly redesigned tracks. It sports various sets of tracks based on SNES graphics and another group of tracks in a futuristic VR-like setting. These are the main game modes.

For those who want some multiplayer action (some people only played Mario Kart for BlockFortresss, believe it or not), the game will also have a battle mode. The total number of tracks is about 50, which is more than any Mario Kart game on the planet to my knowledge (not including mirror tracks)!

Development of Super Indie Karts started in May of 2015 and has been slowly racing towards the finish. One Legged Seagull started a Kickstarter campaign. He wanted to include all the content he could before releasing the game to avoid another future sequel. Players will get the full feature upon release date, which is currently scheduled for 2018 on Steam and is currently available in Early Access.

Battle For Azeroth Pre-Patch; What’s new?

July 16, 2018 by Andy Wang

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’s pre-patch will be released tomorrow, July 17th. After much speculation, Blizzard has revealed the survival guide for the pre-patch. It’s been a longstanding practice by Blizzard, dating all the way back to The Burning Crusade, which was the very first expansion ever made for WoW. Each time an expansion rolls out, they’ve gotten more creative and involved.

The version 8.0 pre-patch includes quests that set the scene for the whole faction war between the Alliance and the Horde. For players who want to do these quests, be sure to complete them before the official patch comes out because they won’t be accessible afterward. Artifact weapons will also be swept away with their effects integrated into class talents/abilities instead. This also means class changes. Classes will be revamped with new buffs and nerfs, but it shouldn’t be the level of Legion. The goal is to create more uniqueness between the classes:

“While we believe some specializations will need substantial iteration to achieve these goals, others will not, and our target is greater stability across the board.”

Other notable changes in 8.0:

A new open world PvP system – War Mode for PvP, off for PvE. No need to rerolls for wrong servers. Keeping it on will reward you with extra experience and rewards when questing
PvP talents and progression
Each profession will now have crafting categories separated by expansion
First Aid will be removed with bandages moved to Tailoring
A huge stat condensing, lowering numbers across the board to make them more readable
Sword swings will no longer produce six-digit numbers
Several abilities that were previously off the global cooldown are included

The full patch notes will be available before the pre-patch release. The Battle for Azeroth patch will roll out on August 14th.

EA acquires mobile “hardcore” game company Industrial Toys

July 15, 2018 by David Wong

Electronic Arts has just bought the rights to a new game developer called Industrial Toys, a game company known for developing mobile games. EA just acquired the 14-man team and they’ll be joining EA’s Worldwide Studios Organization, which currently houses other devs like Respawn Entertainment, BioWare, and Motive Studios.

Industrial Toys was founded in 2012 by an ex-Bungie person of interest. In fact, he was the founder of Bungie. That’s right. Alex Seropian and Tim Harris along with Brent Pease. Seropian and his team founded the company to make games for the touchscreen market and that their goal was to “make more hardcore games for mobile platforms” based on an interview with Joystiq.

Their studio has so far focused just on mobile games with their most popular title being Midnight Star, which is a first-person gallery shooter for iOS released in 2015. Its popularity has lead to the game to great heights with its multiple DLC packs- Midnight Rises and Midnight Star: Renegade. EA Worldwide Studios Group GM and SVP Samantha Ryan states:

“We’re thrilled to have them join our studio organization, pursue new ideas together and bring amazing new games to our players.”

So far, we don’t know what Industrial Toys’ first project will be- whether they’ll develop their own franchise with the company’s properties or continuing their current portfolio of games. EA isn’t shy about buying out companies. They’ve recently bought Respawn Entertainment and also bought the cloud-streaming technology rights from GameFly earlier this year in May. They’ve also made deals with ESPN to create an eMLS for FIFA 18, and Disney XD to broadcast competitive Madden streams.

The Princess Guide confirmed for release in 2019; Get the details

July 13, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

NIS America just announced that it’ll be released The Princess Guide to the Nintendo Switch and PS4 sometime next year. It was previously called Your Four Knight Princesses Training Story and has renamed to fit a Western market. It’s developed by Nippon Ichi was released March 8th in Japan. It was part of NIS America’s lineup at the Anime Expo this year.

The game is basically an action RPG where you play as a knight whose job is to tutor one of four princesses in a land with spawling monsters. The selection of princesses varies in personality and style. You can choose from Alpana, who’s a dragon princess. Or Liliartie, who’s a merchant full of greed. Depending on your playstyle, each princess offers something new to the table and every princess can be trained by scolding or praising them for their actions.

Your actions determine their skills on the battlefield when you encounter enemies. You can command her directly on the field and see how your choices affected her outcome.

The game got some modest reviews in Japan so far. Nippon Ichi wasn’t announced at NISA’s press event earlier this year, so this game is a definite surprise. This is their first game that’s been confirmed to release. Anyone who likes this kind of “princes maker” game should be in for a treat- not to get it confused with the Princess Maker games.

There will also be a collector’s edition for both consoles.

Planet Coaster Vintage DLC pack coming July 10; What’s new?

July 11, 2018 by David Wong

The new DLC for Planet Coaster is set to launch on July 10, 2018, based on a post on their official site. Planet Coaster is the modern RollerCoaster Tycoon and is one of several newer entries into the theme park simulator genre. It’s developed by a team of people that features many of the same members who developed RCT 3.

So far, a few DLCs have been released and plenty of free updates keeping the game fresh since its initial release back in 2016. The new DLC is called the Vintage Pack and is a paid content release.

It’ll feature two new wooden coasters- the Zephyrus which is a fast wooden coaster and Aces Sky which has biplane carriages and navigates sideways through a huge wooden tunnel. It’ll also have five new regular rides, such as Round The World which is similar to a standard Ferris wheel, Loop Da Loop which is an old-school twin-cabin swinging inverter ride, and Test Flight which is an inverting plane that allows guest control. Hurricane and Centrum are both carnival classics that make up the remainder of the new regular rides in the Vintage Pack DLC.

There are also new machines that can be added to the park with this new update. Gumball and popcorn and even an animatronic that predicts the future can all be added throughout the park in order to keep guests happy and your income flowing. You can also set the odds of these machines in order to increase your profit margins or make the tradeoff for guest happiness.

And lastly, the pack adds a bunch of vintage scenery to the game (to no surprise) and wall sets will be available with this update.

If you’re not interested in this DLC or you’re just not a DLC buyer, there will also be a free update to the game that brings recolorable staff, photo filters, free coasters, and more. Thank the developers for keeping the game interesting and updated.

Confirmed: Rend leaving beta and entering early access July 31

July 11, 2018 by David Wong

Rend’s is set to launch on Steam’s Early Access program on July 31st. The game will cost $29.99 and will instantly allow access to all the content available. The closed alpha is now over and the game is entering the next step in its lifecycle.

Developer Frostkeep Studios laid out the roadmap for the game back in May. The jotted down the major milestones of the alpha and feedback that was taken into account. Now the game is set to launch after being developed and built based on meeting those goals and feedback reports.

The community feedback was a huge portion in shaping how the game was developed. Co-Founder and CEO of Frostkeep Jeremy Wood states that early access “marks a pivotal moment” for the studio. They actually use the program for the way its intended t be used- to garner feedback from the players and develop the game according to how the players want it to be built. Now, it’s about to be released to the masses and even more player feedback will be available for Frostkeep to analyze and build Rend around.

“Our standard for Early Access is simple: the game must be in a state such that if we were to never touch its code ever again, Rend would be considered a finished, complete game worth its buy-to-play-only price. We believe this was the original vision for Early Access and we will hold ourselves and our games to that standard. You should too.”

You can see more updates on Rend’ here. They recently posted about their new UI system and the new creatures and biomes you’ll encounter.

Here’s a developer interview conducted by TechRaptor:

PS VR Shooter Firewall Zero Hour release date, pre-order specials, and formats

July 9, 2018 by David Wong

Firewall Zero Hour, a new squad-based shooter from First Contact Entertainment will launch on August 28th, 2018.

The release date was confirmed on a post on the PS blog. The creative producer of the game Damoun Shabestari talks about the game’s formats, release date, some gameplay features.

From the trailer of it, it looks like a Rainbow Six game in VR. It shows off some of the team-centered gameplay and impressive visuals.

Players play as a mercenary contractor who works with their team to attack or defend sensitive data in laptops. Communication, teamwork, and cooperation will be necessary in order to be successful. The game will also have training modes and AI for those who aren’t used to this type of strategic gameplay.

Shabestari describes the game as a “4v4 team-based tactical PS VR Shooter” where the objective is to “either acquire or protect a cache for sensitive data.” Each mission will award XP and in-game currency called Crypto for the player. Items unlocked with XP aren’t owned yet, weird enough. XP unlock weapons, attachments, equipment, and more.

The post also talked about some pre-order goodies and game formats. If you buy it earlier, you get a special Zero Hour Pack which includes some specials. A physical PS Aim bundle will be available for purchase also which includes the special DLC and a PS Aim controller. More features TBA. Stay tuned for details.

Super Bomberman R’s newest update adds tons of craziness

July 6, 2018 by David Wong

Super Bomberman R recently ended its contract with Nintendo Switch exclusivity and has been released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Each platform has their own exclusive characters and Konami has decided to up the ante with some extra fun.

The game has transformed into a Super Smash Bros. style game of Konami’s past character, rather than the top-down old-school Bomberman-style gameplay. With a new take comes new surprises- the newest one being David Hayer’s reappearance in Bomberman R.

Solid Snake fans can choose from Snake and Naked Snake. Raiden, Lance, and Bill are also diving head first into the game, showing off the craziness that is Bomberman R. Owners of the Switch version can play as MAX, which is a Bomberman character that’s exclusive to the Switch. A lot of other characters from Konami’s lesser-known games such as Goemon, Gradius, and Tokimeki Memorial have also been released in the free update. Accessories for each character from Metal Gear and Contra are also available.

Danica Patrick from Sonic Racing Transformed is now available. And even weirder, WWE wrestler Xavier Woods has been added to the game with his original voiceovers. This is just plain silly. But who cares. This ain’t about lore. It’s about nonstop action.

New gameplay modes have also rolled out. Grand Prix now has a Checkpoints option which changes the game to a King of the Hill style mode where you have to rush towards locations on the map in order to gain points. Fans of the game will have a lot to keep them busy this time around. Are you super excited for this update?

Nyko’s PixelQuest Kit turns your Switch into an arcade cabinet

July 5, 2018 by Andy Wang

Nyko has announced new plans to release a new arcade kit for the Nintendo Switch. It’s specifically called the PixelQuest Arcade Kit, which consists of unassembled cardboard that can be used to create a small arcade cabinet from the retro era. Similar to other Nintendo Labo kits, this will allow players to easily slide their Switch display right into the cardboard and has built-in cutouts for ventilation and access to the Switch’s ports.

Although it’s a first-party Labo kit, Nyko has a good history of developing licensed third-party products for Nintendo products. The kit will contain 8 pieces of perforated cardboard, 2 stick tops, 2 Joy-Con inserts for the shoulder bumpers, and plenty of assorted arcade stickers to design your own cabinet the way you want it to look. So far, it seems like a good choice for old-school or retro Nintendo gamers that like a blast from the past.

Nyko has the honors of producing one of the few independent Labo kits. There are currently just a few third-party kits you can buy, but they’re mainly in Japan where Labo has been a huge success. In the West, it’s one of the first third-party kits you can buy right now.

The PixelQuest Arcade Kit will retail for $19.99 on November 27th, 2018. Stay tuned for updates.

Fantom’s new hard drives for Xbox One require no cables, no power

July 2, 2018 by David Wong

Fantom Drives has announced a huge new external hard drive for the Xbox One. It’s a colossal drive that holds up to 5TB of storage, and it’s called the “Fantom Drives Xbox One Storage Drive and Hub.” The name is almost as much as the capacity for your games it can provide.

Large EHDs are nothing new. You can easily buy an 8TB to a 16TB external just as you would buy a 1TB. But the cool part is that it’s built for use with the Xbox One. If you’re going to buy a huge drive, chances are that it’s not made just for console use. The drive provides “massive game storage capacity and gamer mobility” so you get a huge drive that’s also portable. It’ll be able to hold over 120 50GB games on any Xbox- without any wires or cables.

That means it’s completely integrated. It uses a USB connector built right into the device, which means you don’t need any USB cables. There’s also no need for an external power supply. It sucks juice from the power the Xbox One outputs. You can take this thing anywhere where there’s an Xbox and bring your data with you. It’s like a huge memory card. No power needed. No cables needed.

CEO of Fantom, Hamid Khorsandi, says they’re trying to provide a “highly mobile storage drive” while maintaining a similar design to the gaming system. The Storage Drive and Hub series is a new line of products which include 2TB and 4TB variants of this drive. Ther are also high-performance SSDs that come in 1TB and 2TB flavors. All drives come with triple USB ports and house a Seagate HDD inside. They’re all compatible with every Xbox One model on the market right now.

The 5TB flagship model retails for just around $250, 2TB at $120, 1TB at $110. There’s no point in buying the 1TB when you can double the storage for just a mere $10 extra. You can check out the drives on Fantom.

Fortnite physical copies now cost up to $450

July 1, 2018 by David Wong

Fortnite is one of the biggest games on the market today. It’s fun, free-to-play, and one of the most popular games on the planet. It’s even had “endorsement” by Drake.

All the success behind it comes from the fact that it’s a good game and it’s easily downloaded and played for free at no cost to the player.

However, that popularity has skyrocketed the price of the actual disc- up to $450 per copy. The hardcore fans want an actual copy of their favorite battle royale game, and they’ll have to shell out some pretty significant amounts to get it.

Gearbox Software only released a limited number of copies for consoles and PC in Europe. It was a regular $60 release that was focused on PvE “Save the World” content before the battle royale even came out in September of 2017.

Now, the game can’t be easily bought at major retailers anymore. collectors are buying a game that was once sold at MSRP, fan gear that used to be free, and tons of Fortnite swag all over eBay. A Used copy on Amazon will run you $175 without the case. An average copy of the game is $130 on eBay. The same content can be downloaded online for just $40, but that’s just for casual gamers. Hardcore fans want the actual item. This is the Standard Founder’s Pack.

“Save the World” will be free-to-play later this year, which may reduce the value of the disc. But Superfans don’t seem to be stopping. Gearbox Software still has yet to announce another actual disc re-release.

Kickstarter Campaign: Flip Grip lets you play Switch games vertically

June 30, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

Fangamer, maker of video game collectibles, is seeking Kickstarter funding for a new device called the “Flip Grip.” It’s a Nintendo Switch holster that lets you play select games in their vertical orientation. It was announced by Retronauts podcaster and classic gamer Jeremy Parish. He’s working with Mike Choi on the development of the device.

It was teased in March as a way to hold the Switch and the Joy-Cons (both of them) comfortable with the screen vertically mounted. The vertical aspect ratio allows use of all the screen’s real estate and some games benefit from this, such as re-release arcade games, shoot ’em ups, and even pinball emulators. 21 Switch games support vertical play with at least 7 on the way. Some games include Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Stern Pinball, Gunbird, and Ikaruga.

The device uses a piece of durable injection-molded plastic to lock the Switch screen in a holster that’s about half the width of the Switch and has two rails on both sides to hold the Joy-Cons. The grip partially covers the Switch’s vents, but the devs say air flow won’t be an issue. The headphone jack, game card, and SD card slots are all still in full access, but charging it will be an issue. Also, the system’s UI won’t rotate before you launch the game, so you’ll have to tilt you head in the meantime to start it up.

It should be available by October and is already designed and ready for delivery. The campaigns hopes to raise $45,000 with $12 per person, and Paris seems to be delivering more than he can promise. Regardless, we’ll have to see how it turns out. It’s already reached over $80,000 at the time of this writing. Overdelivery is always good.

Via ArsTechnica.

We Happy Few – Pre-order goodies and instant $10 savings

June 27, 2018 by David Wong

We Happy Few is set to release on August 10th, 2018. After three years in the making after a Kickstarter project, the game is ready to launch.

If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a game where everyone is on drugs in 1960s England. The townsfolk have gone off their meds and a new government medication known as “Joy” keeps everyone in a fake state of happiness. The game has you playing as one of the few who rebel against the meds and therefore you need to suffer the side effects of withdrawal symptoms. Some countries have banned the game due to drug use.

If you preorder the game, you get to get your hands on some goodies. Gamers who pre-order will get the Jolly Brolly in-game weapon included as a code in the game package. If you preorder at GameStop or Best Buy you can also get a nice $10 off instant discount and the exclusive weapon.

The standard edition will run you $59.99 and is available for PS4 and Xbox One.

The deluxe edition includes the base game and the season pass, which is rumored to include three pieces of content for the game. It’ll run you a pretty $79.99 out of pocket.

And lastly, there’s the Time Capsule collector’s edition comes with something that you may expect- it doesn’t include the game itself. But it does come with collectible items including a sticker set, alarm clock, soundtrack, mask, handbook, lamp, and propaganda posters.

Sit tight for updates as the game approaches the launch date. The propaganda posters are pretty cool and the item that makes it worth it for any hardcore fan.

Unavowed: A new horror point-and-click coming to PC and Mac August 8th

June 26, 2018 by David Wong

Unavowed, a point-and-click semi-horror adventure game, is coming out for PC and Mac on August 8th, 2018.

The game was in development since 2017 and has been shown off at the Play NYC convention. The game is being made by the same guys behind Blackwell and Gemini Rue. They’re based in New York and called Wadjet Eye Games and are known for their point-and-click titles. A trailer was released by Wadjet Eye Games which shows off the horrific and kinda scary environment and dark tone of the game:

We can see the world’s distinctive artwork and the simple point-and-click gameplay mechanics. It’s all pre-rendered so far with no actual in-game gameplay, but we can expect to see more before the launch. The game has you playing as an unknown protagonist who basically gets possessed and goes crazy. You’re then forced to join an ancient society dedicated to stopping evil. They’re call the Unavowed.

You play through the game’s puzzles and unfold the backstory behind the clan and the society dedicated to fight the oncoming darkness. The game looks pretty crazy with the art and design of the environment and world with a retro pixel art-style look. The Steam page is already up and promises some features like multiple origin stories, branching paths, and companions to choose from. The game is also fully voiced and includes an OST with twice the resolution of a typical Wadjet Eye game.

World of Tanks: Mercenaries launches on Xbox One and PS4: What’s new?

June 26, 2018 by Eugene Schmidt

World of Tanks: Mercenaries, Wargaming’s popular tank battle game, has released on Xbox One and PS4. The story to it isn’t exactly what you’d expect. It’s shifted for the new mercenary additions to the lineup. In this world. WWII is still ongoing and the Axis and Allied nations have both gotten weary from war.

New tank crews have decided to become “bounty hunters” to the highest bidder, and that’s where the player takes control. Mercenaries will have new single-player campaign missions to experience some new tanks which can be unlocked by completing contracts for the bidders. Each contract consists of anywhere up to 8 levels, each with multiple tasks and subtasks to complete.

There’s a new War Stories Campaign titled The Heist where players will have to steal nuclear material from a US-Soviet facility. You’re paired with AI and you need to dodge tank destroyers, turrets, and other nasties as you make your way across the wasteland of shells.

If you complete all of them, you’ll get a new free garage space for a new tank, a new mercenary tank, and a new commander for multiplayer. The new tanks are part of a Mercenary faction that’s a separate entity from the current Allies and Axis nations.

Other changes have been made in the new patch including map improvements.

Nintendo and Microsoft found to be in a “lovey-dovey” relationship; Cross-play now available

June 25, 2018 by David Wong

NIntendo just released a new trailer that shows off cross-platform compatibility between the Switch and Xbox One. It depicts two players, one on each console. Both are working together in a rare promotion video that shows off the hardware and gameplay from Microsoft and Nintendo. As rare as this is, it’s freakin’ awesome to see.

The video ends with a weird message:

“Create Together, Explore Together, Survive Together, Better Together.”

Obviously, this is aimed towards how cooperative play across platforms can be fun. But then again, the PlayStation is still missing- to no surprise.

Fortnite was recently released for the Switch last week and it quickly was confirmed that you could like your Epic Games account to PS4, you wouldn’t be able t log in or carry anything over to the Switch. Sony responded to the controversy and just threw a blanket “sorry not sorry” message to the community:

“We’re always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience.”

Thankfully, Nintendo and Microsoft players don’t have to worry about this issue. nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime said:

“What competitors do is their decision to make. We believe being both developer-forward and fan-forward is in the best interest of the game.”

This was a much more direct approach the the issue. They then took it up a notch and went on their official Twitter account and had a conversation with Microsoft, to which then Mojang joined in. Nintendo Tweeted at Xbox asking them if they wanted to “build something” now that they can “play together” to which Xbox responded with a “our bodies are ready. What are we building?”

Afterwards, Minecraft jumps in and suggests something to build to which both Xbox and Nintendo agree upon. Crazy.

Minecraft, Rocket League, Paladins and more have all been cross-play compabiel now with select systems, such as PC, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. It’s a good time to be a Nintendo or Microsoft fanboy. With the start of Minecraft bonding the two rivals, this could be a new “lovey-dovey” relationship.

Currently Switch owners of Minecraft will be able to play with Xbox One players. And if you own the Minecraft Switch Edition, you’ll also be able to upgrade to the new version at no charge.

Nioh 2 will feature character creation and will be more “ideal” to the series

June 23, 2018June 23, 2018 by Andy Wang

Koei Tecmo revealed some info about their Nioh 2 game during the PS Live coverage at E3. It looks like it’ll improve upon its previous game with some nice RPG elements and also a character creation mode.

Game director Fumihiko Yasuda outlined the overall goal for the game stating that creating a “proper, natural evolution” from the first game was a necessary step in development. The outcome didn’t result in huge changes but rather improved upon weak areas in the original game. The team was happy over the lukewarm success of Nioh, but this time, they want to fix all the original problems and make this game a more solid version of what they had originally planned.

Team Ninja is well-known for their reaction games but Nioh was more of an RPG. It was a change of pace from what they’re good at making so the game wasn’t perfected the first time around.

The latest addition to the series will have a story that ties in the with the previous game and made in a way where new players will still be able to understand it without playing the original. A character creation option will be available as it was most requested from fans of the game. Players will now be able to modify the race, gender, and looks of their awesome ninja. The experience Team Ninja gained through Nioh will allow them to make an even better game this time around- perhaps to what they had originally planned and we’ll get to experience the world of Nioh in all its glory.

From the trailer, we can’t really see any major differences other than some eye-candy for the time being. We’ll just have to sit tight and take their word for it.

There’s no release date as of now. It’s likely to be initially released on PS4 just like the original game.

Yoshi game delayed until 2019 but “making great progress”

June 22, 2018 by Andy Wang

The anticipated Yoshi game coming on the Nintendo Switch has been delayed until 2019 based on official word from Nintendo themselves.

It was absent from Nintendo’s E3 presentation and the reason is none other than the delay. Now we know why- it’s because of the delay. Nintendo updated its US and UK sites with the game’s new release date marked as 2019. It was originally announced for the Nintendo Switch back at last year’s E3 and it was due to release in 2018. It even had a playable demo on the floor. A specific date wasn’t announced, by the rumors were that it’d be out in 2018.

Yoshi is a 2D puzzle platformer game that has the guys from Good-Feel developing it. If you’ve never heard of them, they made Yoshi’s Wooly Wolrd and Kirby’s Epic Yarn, so they know their way around creating a cute platformer.

Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America’s product marketing director, stated that the game wasn’t at E3, but development is still progressing and that they’ll “have updates later this year” and that the game is “making great progress.”

Yoshi is the working title of the game since the beginning and will likely change as we shift into 2019. If you’ve been waiting for this game, don’t worry, the mini dinosaur will be coming soon. You can still catch Yoshi in other titles like Super Mario Party, Mario Tennis Aces, and of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Nintendo’s anti-piracy measures “perfectly” prevents stolen content

June 21, 2018 by David Wong

Nintendo’s new anti-piracy measures seem to be doing exactly as they planned- and they’re pretty happy about it.

A Redditor, SciresM, broke down exactly how they work in a post. He says that when you go online with your Switch, Nintendo will run a check on whether or not you have data coming from an authorized game card for the title. If it’s legitimate, your console will get a unique ticket that allows you to play it online. If not, your cartridge will be banned from being able to be played online and you could be banned from the Nintendo Network. Pirated games seem to automatically trigger such a ban.

He then talks about how Nintendo “perfectly” prevents online piracy because these tickets can make it easy for Nintendo do detect when games are pirated and shared between people. They can verify the ID associated with the ticket and make sure it matches the ID for the device that’s using it. If they’re different, the game gets banned. And the tickets can’t be created or generated like serial keys.

At this point, we’re unsure if illegal games could work offline, but it seems like it’ll only protect against games being played online as they require an active connection to the internet.

This new measure is likely due to a security issue Nintendo had wehere two exploits in the hardware of the Switch was publicly revealed. Nintendo has since strengthened their stance on piracy:

“Nintendo opposes those who benefit and trade off the creative work of game developers, artists, animators, musicians, motion capture artists and others,” the website reads. “Piracy continues to be a significant threat to Nintendo’s business, as well as to the businesses of more than 1,400 game development companies that work to provide games for Nintendo systems. Most importantly, game developers and publishers depend on the legitimate sales of their games in order to survive.

“Piracy discourages innovation and new game development; it can also lead to a reduction in the number of jobs available within the industry, all of which ultimately impacts the consumer.”