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Sony Pictures is producing a live-action television series based on Final Fantasy XIV

Sony Pictures has announced they are currently hard at work on a live-action Final Fantasy television series. There’s no word yet on when the show will debut, or what platform it’ll appear on, but I have to imagine it’ll take some time for the producers to procure a substantial enough wig budget.

That’s more or less a joke, but it’s also a bit staggering to even think about what Sony Pictures is attempting here. As a franchise that stretches back more than three decades (and across dozens of games), there is a lot of Final Fantasy lore to mine for a live-action adaptation. According to the announcement, the show will be partly based on Final Fantasy XIV, telling “an original story set in the fantastic world of Eorzea” and featuring a starring role for Cid.

Like most entries in the franchise, the Final Fantasy television series will “explore the struggle between magic and technology in a quest to bring peace to a land in conflict.” Viewers will also be introduced to magitek, beastmen, airships, and chocobos in future episodes.

Sony Pictures has partnered with Square Enix to develop the Final Fantasy television series, so we know the creators of the franchise will have some say in how its live-action debut plays out. Hivemind’s Jason Brown, Sean Daniel, and Dinesh Shamdasani (the same team behind the Netflix-bound adaptation of The Witcher) will executive produce the show, while Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton have been hired as writers.

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Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds receives four nominations in Game Critics Awards’s Best of E3 2019 Awards

The Game Critics Awards‘s judging panel, which has expanded to 64 publications this year, has announced the nominees for the Best of E3 2019 Awards.

This year, Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds lead all games with a total of four nominations, including one for “Best of Show.” The RPG will be competing against Gearbox’s Borderlands 3, id Software’s Doom Eternal, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs Legion for the big prize.

A quartet of other games also seemed to strike a chord with panelists, and also receiving three nominations apiece were Remedy’s Control (“Best Original Game,” “Best PC Game,” “Best Action/Adventure Game”), Bithell Games’s John Wick Hex (“Best Original Game,” “Best Strategy Game,” “Best Independent Game”), Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion 3 (“Best Console Game,” “Best Action/Adventure Game,” “Best Family/Social Game”), and MachineGames’s Wolfenstein: Youngblood (“Best PC Game,” “Best Action Game,” “Best Online Multiplayer”).

The complete list of nominees for the Best of E3 2019 Awards can be found after the break, and you can learn all about the winners beginning tomorrow, June 27. (more…)

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Bandai Namco announces One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows

Bandai Namco will add another anime adaptation to their growing catalog with games with the announcement of One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. In development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, One Punch Man fans will get the chance to be able to play as several characters from the anime, including Saitama, Genos, Hellish Blizzard, Speed-O-Sound Sonic, and Mumen Rider:

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows will feature 3 vs. 3 battles, where players can form powerful teams using their favorite characters as they fight in a universe where attacks from powerful villains are the norm. Players can take the role of Saitama, a salaryman-turned-hero who can obliterate the strongest foes with a single punch. Players will also be able to play as other fan-favorite characters such as Genos, Hellish Blizzard, Speed-O-Sound Sonic, and Mumen Rider.

“One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is the perfect game for One Punch Man fans and those who are ready to jump into the One Punch universe,” said Abelina Villegas, an Associate Brand Manager at Bandai Namco Entertainment America. “Players can really immerse themselves in the One Punch Man world and form their own teams, develop their skills, and fight to see who is the strongest of them all!”

Bandai Namco didn’t announce a release date for One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, but they did say the game is “Coming Soon,” and also unveiled the Announcement Trailer embedded above.

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New Retail Releases: Super Mario Maker 2, Judgment, F1 2019, More

Are we in a Summer games drought? Not if Nintendo and a few other publishers have anything to say about it.

This week, Nintendo will bring Super Mario Maker 2 to stores for the Switch. The course-creation sequel will add a full Story Mode, as well as a huge number of new creation tools, and a new game style based on Super Mario 3D World.

Also set to launch this week is Sega’s Judgment, a spinoff to the Yakuza franchise that’ll launch exclusively for the PS4. In Judgment, players will investigate the seedy Red Light District of Kamurocho in “the dramatic tale of a disgraced lawyer seeking redemption in a world rife with corruption and despair.”

Elsewhere on store shelves this week, gamers will be able to check out F1 2019 (PS4, Xbox One), latest racing simulation from Codemasters; The Sinking City (PS4, Xbox One), a Lovecraftian mystery from Frogwares; and Samurai Shodown (PS4, Xbox One), a rebooted new entry in SNK’s Samurai Shodown franchise.

And for RPG fans, Idea Factory will bring back the Neptunia series with Super Neptunia RPG for the PS4 and Switch.

A complete list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Blazing Chrome will be released on July 11

JoyMasher has been working on Blazing Chrome, their retro-styled homage to Contra and Metal Slug, for a few years now. But the Brazilian developer has finally confirmed, alongside publisher The Arcade Crew, that the game will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on July 11.

With just a few weeks to go before Blazing Chrome’s launch, JoyMasher unveiled a new trailer today that gives prospective players a peek at a pair of hidden characters:

JoyMasher’s Blazing Chrome harkens back to the golden days of side-scrolling shooters with modern touches ensuring its gameplay feels as precise as it does authentic to the era it channels. Fans who unlock the new characters within the game will be treated to fast-paced, side-scrolling and vertical gameplay action as Suhaila, a razor girl with a robotic arm or the skilled and deadly ninja Raijin you try to out-fire, out-maneuver, and out-wit your various metal-encased AI enemies.

JoyMasher has also partnered with Limited Run Games to produce a physical edition for Blazing Chrome. It’ll be available to pre-order sometime this year for the PS4 and Switch.

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Fantasy-styled shooter Amid Evil launches out of Early Access with a new trailer

After more than a year in Early Access, New Blood Interactive and Indefatigable are finally ready to launch Amid Evil, their fantasy-styled shooter that was partly inspired by classics of the genre like Heretic and Hexen.

To celebrate this milestone, the two companies have unveiled a new Launch Trailer highlighting the Champion’s throwback quest (“7 Worlds to Save, 7 Weapons to Wield, and 7 Evils to Vanquish”) and the game’s wildly trippy visuals.

Amid Evil is available to download now through Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store.

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Mortal Kombat 11 wins back-to-back rounds as the best-selling game of May 2019

Analyst Mat Piscatella came out of hibernation last night to share a look (via Twitter) at The NPD Group’s report on the best-selling games from May 2019. Once again, NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat 11 landed on the top of the list, and it’s now the best-selling game for all of 2019.

Days Gone managed to hold its position as the runner-up for the month of May, fighting off PC-exclusive Total War: Three Kingdoms (which proved popular enough to slide into the #3 spot) and fellow new release Rage 2 (#4). Perennial favorite Grand Theft Auto V rounded out the Top 5 in the #5 slot.

This year’s most popular titles played musical chairs throughout the remainder of last month’s Top 20. Some went up (Minecraft went from #14 to #9) while some were trending down (Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 dropped from #4 to #12).

The Switch was the best-selling console platform in May and as the PS4 and Xbox One continue to ride off into the sunset, it’s also remained the best-selling for the 2019 calendar year.

Overall, total industry sales were done 11% versus May 2018, but that can probably be chalked up to a paltry selection of new releases last month. You can find a full list of best-selling games from May 2019 after the break. (more…)

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Cold Iron’s Aliens: Colonial Marines game is getting a tie-in comic miniseries

We currently know very little about the next game set within the Alien universe from FoxNext and Cold Iron Studios. Even though it was announced all the way back in January of 2018, about all the two companies have revealed so far is that it’s a shooter that’ll involve the Colonial Marines in some capacity.

But today we learned a few more scraps of information about the game thanks to Dark Horse Comics. This morning, the comic publisher unveiled Aliens: Colonial Marines – Rising Threat, a new eight-issue miniseries that’ll connect to the upcoming game, on their official website:

Aliens: Colonial Marines – Rising Threat delves into the formative years of the Colonial Marines. Tying into the events of the upcoming Cold Iron Studios videogame, this new series introduces Olivia Shipp, leader of a squad of battle-weary Marines who have defied orders to rescue the survivors of a refinery under siege.

Rising Threat will be written by Brian Wood, with artwork by Werther Dell’Edera (artist), Michael Atiyeh (colorist), Nate Piekos of Blambot (letterer), and Tristan Jones (cover artist). The first issue will be available through your local comic shop on September 18.

Is that also when Cold Iron’s game will arrive on store shelves? Unfortunately, we still don’t know.

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