Most Recent: News

Tetris 99’s next Maximus Cup event is this weekend and it’s offering an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Theme as a prize

Nintendo has followed up most of its new releases in the last year with a Maximus Cup event in Tetris 99 with a crossover Theme for the puzzle game as the prize. It happened with Fire Emblem: Three Houses in August. And it happened with Pokemon Sword and Shield in November.

And because it was inevitable, now it’s happening with Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The 13th Maximus Cup will begin this Friday, May 15, at 3:00 AM (Eastern Time). Like Tetris 99’s other online events, it’ll continue into early next week and end at 3:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, May 19.

Players who collect 100 Event Points over the 96-hour period will unlock a special in-game Theme based on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which features some of your favorite characters and lots of mint green styling. Obtaining 100 Event Points shouldn’t be too difficult, as the scoring system for this Maximus Cup event is the same as always:

Points Table for Tetris 99’s 12th Maximus Cup
1st Place: 100
2nd Place: 50
3rd Place: 30
4th-10th Place: 20
11th–30th Place: 15
31st–50th Place: 10
51st–90th Place: 5
91st–99th Place: 1

Don’t let the 13th Maximus Cup event be unlucky, and we’re pulling for everyone who wants the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Theme.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Scorn is a Gigeresque nightmare… and an Xbox Series X exclusive at launch

Microsoft began rolling out some of the third-party support they’ve lined up for the Xbox Series X earlier today, and Ebb Software’s Scorn has certainly slithered its way to the front with haunting imagery reminiscent of H.R. Giger’s designs for the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.

Featuring statues that cry entrails and a lot of bodily fluids, the new trailer for Scorn is a wild ride into an utterly alien world. But I think it’s best to let the developers themselves fill you in on how they plan to unsettle players with their “nightmare” vision:

Scorn lures players into a claustrophobic underworld populated with misshapen organic forms dripping with unnamed fluids. You will find yourself entirely alone, with only your senses and instincts to guide you through the non-linear nightmare of interconnected spaces. In Scorn, the environment is itself a character, and will do its best to unsettle and unbalance you. Each location has its own puzzles, characters, and story to tell, all of which combine to create a cohesive world. On your journey through the game, new areas, skills, weapons, and items will be unveiled as you attempt to comprehend the unfolding reality of Scorn.

Kowloon Nights, an investment fund for independent developers, is providing support for Scorn, and Community Manager Danika Harrod expanded on Ebb’s influences on the Xbox Wire:

Scorn is a first-person horror adventure game designed around the idea of being thrown into the world. As players explore the dream-like world in a non-linear fashion, they will soon learn that every location has its own story, puzzles, and characters – even the unsettling environment is a character itself. The team has drawn visual inspiration from Swiss painter H.R. Giger and Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. Conceptual inspiration has come from works by unique writers like Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges, horror and sci-fi writers like Thomas Ligotti and J.G. Ballard, and the weird cinema of David Cronenberg and David Lynch.

Scorn will be released for the Xbox Series X during the console’s “launch period” this Fall, and it’s also in the works for the PC through Steam and the Windows Store.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox Series X |

Sony sets new release dates for The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima

Two of Sony’s biggest games have new release dates.

The consolemaker pushed back the previously-announced May launch of The Last of Us Part II a few weeks ago, but it looks like the game will still make it out the door this Spring. Writing on the PlayStation Blog today, Sony’s Hermen Hulst revealed that Naughty Dog’s sequel will be available in stores for the PS4 on June 19.

Hulst also confirmed that Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima will be delayed as well, and it’s now expected to be released for the PS4 on July 17.

The executive went on to thank the development teams for their hard work as the whole world grapples with stay-at-home orders in the face of the coronavirus:

I want to personally congratulate and thank both the teams at Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions on their achievements, as we know it’s not an easy feat to reach the finish line under these circumstances. Both teams have worked hard to deliver world-class experiences, and we can’t wait to see what you think of them when they release in just a few short months.

The new release date for The Last of Us Part II comes in the aftermath of a major leak from within Naughty Dog that is currently making its way around the Internet. Several cutscenes from the game were uploaded to YouTube yesterday, as well as screenshots showing levels and plot points. So be on guard if you want to stay unspoiled.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged ,

It’s raining Bells as Animal Crossing: New Horizons becomes the best-selling game of March 2020

Multiple states attempted to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic throughout the month of March by shutting down non-essential businesses, and The NPD Group’s recent report (via Twitter) about the month’s best-selling games absolutely reflects this strange new world.

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, without the benefit of digital sales (the consolemaker doesn’t supply them to NPD), was the best-selling game of March 2020. According to analyst Mat Piscatella (also via Twitter), it’s impressive debut has already set a new sales record for the franchise, and it trails only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for best first month sales by a Nintendo-published title.

The game also helped sell a lot of people on the Switch, as Nintendo sold more Switch consoles in March of 2020 than they did when the system launched in March of 2017.

With gamers doing their part and staying home, the entire industry surged ahead alongside Tom Nook, Isabelle, K.K. Slider, and the rest of the Animal Crossing crew. Total game sales were up 34% over March 2019 ($739 million vs $550 million), while total hardware sales rose 63% ($461 million vs $282 million).

And Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn’t the only new release that’s popular with players right now. MLB The Show 20 (#3), Resident Evil 3 (#4), Doom Eternal (#6), and Persona 5 Royal (#7) all debuted in the Top Ten. Looking further down the list, new games such as Nioh 2 (#11), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (#15), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered (#20) all snuck into the Top 20.

You can find a complete breakdown of The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games from March 2020 after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Wii, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Unlock a Ring Fit Adventure Theme for Tetris 99 in this weekend’s Maximus Cup event

After giving Tetris 99 players a two-month sabbatical from Maximus Cup events, Nintendo announced that they’re relaunching the popular competition this weekend.

The 12th Maximus Cup will pit players against one another over four grueling days of block dropping. The event will begin just after midnight this Friday, April 24, and continue until a similarly late hour on the following Monday, April 28.

This time around, players who acquire 100 Event Points will unlock an in-game Theme patterned after Nintendo’s latest exercise craze, Ring Fit Adventure. And not surprisingly, the scoring system for this Maximus Cup event remains unchanged:

Points Table for Tetris 99’s 12th Maximus Cup
1st Place: 100
2nd Place: 50
3rd Place: 30
4th-10th Place: 20
11th–30th Place: 15
31st–50th Place: 10
51st–90th Place: 5
91st–99th Place: 1

Good luck to everyone planning to participate in this weekend’s Maximus Cup event.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Final Super Mario Maker 2 update will include World Maker, Koopalings, the Frog Suit, and more

Nintendo has announced that they’ve got one final earth-shattering update coming for Super Mario Maker 2. Set to launch on April 22, the World Maker Update will give creators the chance to bundle together up to 40 courses (spread across eight worlds) into their own mini Mario masterpiece.

Creators have been asking for the ability to build their own “games” with Mario Maker’s toolset since the launch of the original game back in 2015, so this new update is sure to be a big hit with the sequel’s fanbase. But Nintendo isn’t stopping there, and the consolemaker confirmed that even more new features will be tucked away in the World Maker Update.

If you’ve got eight worlds to build, you’re going to need a unique boss at the end of each one. So it’s a good thing that this update will also add the Koopalings to Super Mario Maker 2. Each Koopaling will have their unique movement pattern, and they’ll be making their debut alongside other memorable villains such as the key-chasing Phanto and the wind-up Mechakoopas.

Speaking of Super Mario Bros. 2, the SMB2 Mushroom will arrive to give Mario his outfit from the first US sequel and the ability to pick up and throw items and enemies. Super Mario Bros. 3‘s Frog Suit, Super Mario World‘s Power Balloon, New Super Mario Bros. U‘s Super Acorn, and Super Mario 3D World‘s Boomerang Flower will also be added to Mario Maker 2’s suite of powerups.

You can take a deep dive into everything that Super Mario Maker 2’s World Maker Update has to offer in the new trailer embedded above.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Seinfeld Adventure might become a game if you believe in it

George: Everybody’s doing something, we’ll do nothing.
Jerry: So, we go into NBC, we tell them we’ve got an idea for a show about nothing.
George: Exactly.
Jerry: They say, “What’s your show about?” I say, “Nothing.”
George: There you go.
Jerry: I think you may have something here.

Jacob Janerka and Ivan Dixon probably weren’t sitting around a coffee shop like Jerry and George when they came up with the idea for a point-and-click adventure game based on Seinfeld, but their version of “The Pitch” sounds equally hilarious.

The two developers are looking to do more than build a mere fangame with Seinfeld Adventure, and so they’ve launched SeinfeldGame.com to pitch the idea directly to co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David:

For a “show about nothing” Seinfeld has a surprisingly rich world. There are so many memorable recurring characters, plot lines and locations as the four protagonists navigate new relationships, jobs and rivals.

The show existed during the time of iconic adventure games such as Monkey Island, Full Throttle, King’s Quest and many more.

Point-and-click adventure games often involve some sort of task or mission that requires a mix of conversational skills, puzzle solving, item collection and use. In Seinfeld, conflict also arises regularly from miscommunication or involves novel items (think episodes like The Pez, The Junior Mint, The Statue, The Calzone, The Fusilli Jerry, The Couch, The Big Salad, etc). All this melds perfectly with the point-and-click formula!

Their “Video Game About Nothing” would give players the chance to control Jerry, George, and Elaine as they live out a brand new episode (“The Email”) that also ropes in Kramer (a “wild card” who “cannot be controlled”), Newman, Kenny Bania, and yet another tale about a young girl’s strange and erotic journey from Milan to Minsk:

Jerry is dating a publicist who accidentally reveals his email address to Kenny Bania through a group email. Now Bania fills Jerry’s inbox with a flurry of spam emails asking for feedback on his new stand-up set. Jerry decides to break up with the publicist over this, but he doesn’t want to deal with the interaction face-to-face. Kramer suggests ending the relationship via email and avoiding it all together. Jerry does this before Elaine reminds him that the publicist was supposed to get them all tickets to the opening night of the new movie “Rochelle, Rochelle 2”. George devises a plan to corrupt Jerry’s girlfriend’s computer before she can read her emails so that they can still collect the tickets. Kramer says he knows who can help. Someone with a sworn vendetta against email. Someone who has devoted their whole life to analogue mail and sees email as a threat to his livelihood. Someone named Newman.

While Jerry’s Mac often sat unused in the corner of his apartment, this certainly sounds like the plot of a long lost episode of Seinfeld. Ideally, Janerka and Dixon would like to include multiple episodes in the game, with each one built around the three-act structure of the show.

But that’s where the rest of us come in. Right now, Seinfeld Adventure is just a website, a short proof-of-concept trailer, and a good idea. While they’ve already rereated Jerry’s apartment and the coffee shop in a wonderfully pixelated style (and perfectly captured the shove accompanying Elaine’s “Get! Out!”), they need the approval of the show’s creators before they can go any further. And they think they might have a better shot if fans share their idea “far and wide.”

I don’t know what’ll happen next, but hopefully it goes better for Janerka and Dixon than it did for Jerry and George.

Posted in News, PC |

Grounded will be available in Early Access on July 28

Microsoft and Obsidian are continuing to play up the similarities between the upcoming Grounded and Disney’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids in the game’s latest trailer.

Delving slightly deeper into the mysteries of the game’s shrinking technology, this Story Trailer introduces prospective players to BURG.L, a robot that will help you navigate the treacherous backyard arena:

In Grounded, you wake up in a suburban backyard, shrunk to the size of an ant. You hear the voice of a mysterious robot named BURG.L. He seems to know what’s going on and lets you know that the machine to turn you back to normal size is currently out of order. For now, everything in the backyard is trying to kill you and it’s up to you – and up to three friends, if you’re playing co-operative multiplayer – to survive the perilous landscape.

The short clip also includes several thrilling battles between ants, bees, and spiders, as well as a glimpse at some of the crafting and building options that Grounded will have.

Grounded will be available to download as an Early Access/Game Preview title for the PC and Xbox One on July 28.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged