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World Video Game Hall of Fame welcomes its Class of 2020: Minecraft, Bejeweled, Centipede, and King’s Quest
After selling more than 200 million copies over the last decade, it’s hard to remember a time when Minecraft wasn’t nearly synonymous with the entire medium of video games. And though it was only available in an unfinished form from 2009 to 2011, it seemed to emerge from Mojang’s offices as a fully-formed phenomenon even in its earliest days.
So as players continued to flock to its Lego-like world in droves, it was a bit of a shock when the game was denied entry into the World Video Game Hall of Fame three separate times. Shortlisted as a finalist in 2015, 2016, and 2018, the title was passed over again and again and again. But Minecraft’s creative sandbox become too big to ignore this year, and it has finally been enshrined among gaming’s greats.
In a stunning upset, three unlikely candidates also garnered enough support from the Hall of Fame’s Selection Advisory Committee to join the Class of 2020. A genre-defining match-3 puzzler from PopCap (Bejeweled), a classic coin-op from Atari (Centipede), and one of earliest adventure titles from Sierra (King’s Quest) won out over more popular titles such as NBA Jam, GoldenEye 007, and Guitar Hero.
While this year’s class might look a little surprising, historians working at the Hall of Fame’s parent organizations, the Strong Museum and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, helped put their importance into perspective. (more…)
Resident Evil Village brings back Chris Redfield and Ethan Winters in 2021
Capcom has always had a strong connection to the PlayStation brand, and the publisher used Sony’s Future of Gaming event to unveil the next mainline entry in the Resident Evil franchise.
Resident Evil Village (stylized in some promotional material as, and I’m not making this up, Resident Evil VIllAGE) will serve as a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Utilizing a first-person perspective, Ethan Winters will return as the playable protagonist, and a hulking Chris Redfield is back in the fray as well. Chris is possibly the villain of the piece as he appears to by murder Ethan’s wife in the closing seconds of the Announcement Trailer.
Here’s what the Capcom-Unity blog had to say about Resident Evil Village:
Taking place a few years after the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7 biohazard, Ethan Winters and his wife, Mia, seem to have finally found peace after the horrifying events they endured at the Baker family’s plantation house. Despite putting the past behind them, a surprising yet familiar face returns in the form of Chris Redfield… whose shocking actions ultimately cause Ethan to end up in a mysterious, snow-covered village.
Unlike the claustrophobic hallways of the Baker mansion, Resident Evil Village provides a different kind of terror: The fear of the unknown. Each encounter is another fight for survival, with a first-person perspective making things that much more personal as you chart unknown territory. There’s much more to the village than what you see on the surface.
Resident Evil Village is currently in development for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X… though fans are in for a bit of a wait as the game is set to launch sometime in 2021. But that just means you’ve got plenty of time to pore over that Announcement Trailer for more clues.
Posted in News, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
Lucid’s Destruction All-Stars mixes together Twisted Metal and Fortnite
Sony’s Future of Gaming event included a nice overview of what gaming will look like going forward, but some of the games on display weren’t afraid to wink at the past. For example… there’s Lucid’s Destruction All-Stars.
The car combat genre feels like it belongs to another era entirely (can you believe Twisted Metal for the PS3 was released in 2012!), but Lucid has gone one step further and infused Destruction All-Stars with the same wacky spirit you’ll find in Fortnite. They’ve also changed the game slightly as players will now be able to exit their vehicles and cause mayhem on foot:
Master the art of intense vehicle-based combat through timing, tactics and skills to cause colossal amounts of damage, destruction and devastation in vibrant arenas across the globe.
Lucid is probably best-known for their work on Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, which was released for nearly every platform imaginable between 2014 and 2015. However, it looks like they’re going a different route with Destruction All-Stars, which will be exclusive to the PS5.
We don’t know when Destruction All-Stars will launch, but the first trailer has been embedded above.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales will launch alongside the PS5 this Fall
Insomniac’s Spider-Man has been one of the PS4’s best-selling (and best-reviewed) games since it launched in 2018. Sony was so impressed, that they even cracked open their piggy bank to purchase the studio last August.
A sequel felt inevitable, and we finally got our first look at it during today’s Future of Gaming event. But rather than focus on Peter Parker, the PlayStation Blog confirms that Spider-Man: Miles Morales will put the spotlight on a different webhead:
Spider-Man: Miles Morales from Insomniac Games and Marvel
The latest adventure in the Spider-Man universe will build on and expand Marvel’s Spider-Man through an all-new story. Players will experience the rise of Miles Morales as he masters new powers to become his own Spider-Man. With PS5’s ultra-fast SSD, players can near-instantaneously fast-travel across Marvel’s New York City, or feel the tension of each one of Miles’s web-swings, punches, web shots, and venom blasts with the DualSense wireless controller’s haptic feedback. Highly-detailed character models and enhanced visuals across the game intensify the story of Miles Morales as he faces great, new challenges while learning to be his own Spider-Man.
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Miles Morales has been embedded above, and it’ll be released exclusively for PS5 this Fall.
Square Enix sets August 27 launch date for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition
After missing its previously-announced launch date in January, Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition will now make its way to stores this Summer. The multiplayer Action RPG will be available for the PS4, Switch, and mobile devices (iOS and Android) on August 27.
Featuring Cross-Platform Play on all four platforms, Square Enix will also add enhanced visuals, new character voiceovers, new bosses, and more to Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition…
Alongside updates to the visuals and audio, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition features a number of enhancements to make the experience more enchanting than ever. Character voiceovers, online multiplayer with cross-play functionality, new items, and challenging new dungeons and bosses await as players explore a stunning fantasy world and make new memories, calling upon magic and might as they bond with fantastic characters and team up with friends to take down fearsome foes through fun action-RPG gameplay.
A new trailer for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition has been embedded above.
Posted in Mobile, News, PS4, Switch
Tagged Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy VII Remake is unsurprisingly the best-selling game of April 2020
The public has been anxiously awaiting the launch of Final Fantasy VII Remake ever since it was first announced all the way back in 2015. Well, it finally arrived on store shelves last month, and fans eagerly emptied their wallets to return to the world of Midgar.
According to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella (via Twitter), Final Fantasy VII Remake was far and away the best-selling game in April 2020. The game’s exceptional sales also pushed it to become the biggest launch in Final Fantasy franchise history.
Strong sales across the board for software ($662 million), hardware ($420 million), and accessories ($384 million) were recorded by The NPD Group. Added together, the video game industry racked up revenues of $1.467 billion last month, a whopping 73% increase over April 2019. The total also surpassed April 2008’s previous record of $1.2 billion.
An expanded list of April 2020’s best-selling games (featuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Resident Evil 3, and many others) can be found after the break. (more…)
PGA Tour 2K21 tees off this August from 2K Games and HB Studios
2K Games and HB Studios are continuing their partnership with the PGA Tour this Summer as the next game in The Golf Club franchise has morphed into PGA Tour 2K21.
Referred to as an “evolution” of the franchise by 2K and HB, PGA Tour 2K21 will feature pro golfer Justin Thomas on the cover, as well as 15 licensed PGA Tour courses, and a Course Designer mode to expand that number when you need a new challenge:
Thomas will be joined by 11 additional PGA Tour pros, each of whom will present a challenge to players in PGA Tour Career Mode as they compete to become a FedEx Cup Champion. Players can also create and personalize their MyPlayer with equipment and apparel from licensed brands including adidas, Polo Ralph Lauren, Malbon Golf, Callaway Golf, Bridgestone Golf, TaylorMade Golf, and more.
Capping off the simulation experience, PGA Tour 2K21 will feature a broadcast-style presentation with state-of-the-art graphics, dynamic cutscenes and a seamless replay system, all anchored by the play-by-play commentary of renowned broadcaster Luke Elvy and analyst Rich Beem.
In addition to its many single-player options, PGA Tour 2K21 will also include local and online multiplayer modes, including Alt-Shot, Stroke Play, Skins, and 4-Player Scramble.
PGA Tour 2K21 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Stadia on August 21. A very unexpected Announcement Trailer for the game has been embedded above.
Paper Mario: The Origami King will be released on July 17
With the E3 Expo off the calendar this Summer, game publishers have been scrambling to figure out how best to announce all the projects that would have debuted at the big show. So here we are on a random morning in May, and Nintendo has just announced that a new Paper Mario game will launch in less than two months.
Paper Mario: The Origami King will be available for the Switch on July 17, and not only is Mario forced to team up with Bowser once again, but it also looks like Princess Peach has turned evil…
Mario faces one of his most thrilling challenges yet in Paper Mario: The Origami King when the dangerous King Olly unleashes his plan to fold the entire world. Just when matters couldn’t get worse, he’s bound Princess Peach’s Castle in giant, colored streamers and transported it to a distant mountain. He’s even transformed Bowser’s minions into Folded Soldiers and enlisted them in his treacherous cause.
The game’s Announcement Trailer, which has been embedded above, gives us a good look at some of the new features coming to The Origami King.
Fans of Arms will be thrilled to learn that Mario is getting a set of stretchy arms to call his own. These “1000-Fold Arms” give Mario the ability to “interact with the landscape” by peeling away at the game’s world to solve puzzles and reveal “unexpected surprises.” And speaking of puzzles, the new ring-based battle system will ask players to “maximize damage” by correctly lining up Mario against his opponents.
With Super Mario Bros. celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, we’ll likely hear a lot more about Mario throughout the year. It just won’t be at the E3 Expo.