Most Recent: Switch

90s Arcade Racer becomes 90s Super GP… and it’ll be released for Switch, PC, PS4

Posted on July 19, 2017 by John Scalzo

Remember The 90s Arcade Racer? The throwback racing game was previously in development for the PC and Wii U, and publisher Nicalis originally planned to release the game in 2013. But here we are four years later, and the game has several new destinations… and a new name.

According to its official website, The 90s Arcade Racer will now be known as 90s Super GP, and it’s now in development for the PC, PS4, and Switch. But don’t worry, its core theme remains:

Overview
It is the nineties, and there is time for arcade racing! 90s Super GP is soaked in the nostalgia of the greatest era of racing video games, when “realism” and tedious minutiae took a back seat to fantastic environments, hyperspeed drifting, and paint-scraping!

Offering three different racing classes and a variety of exciting gameplay modes, 90s Super GP skillfully combines the feel and aesthetic of classic arcade racers with the polish, physics modeling, and widescreen HD visuals of current-generation games.

Features

  • Intense stock car, supercar and formula racing in the style of the best arcade racers of the 1990s
  • Bright colors, crazy track layouts and dance music evoke the golden era of arcade racing games
  • Finely tuned driving physics with precision handling and old-school drifting
  • 12 unique vehicles with different attributes and customizable colors
  • Six dynamic and shortcut-filled courses, three of which have “Long” and “Short” variations
  • Arcade mode for quick races in any unlocked vehicle on any unlocked course
  • Championship Mode with four circuits in each of the stock, supercar, and formula racing classes
  • Local and online multiplayer modes, with online leaderboards

Nicalis isn’t ready to announce a new release date for 90s Super GP, but it’ll hopefully be available soon.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch | Tagged

RBI Baseball 2017 will be released for the Switch on September 5

Posted on July 19, 2017 by John Scalzo

Major League Baseball Advanced Media has announced that RBI Baseball 2017, their retro-themed baseball simulation, will be released for the Nintendo Switch on September 5.

RBI Baseball 2017, which has long featured fast paced and fun gameplay, is a full nine-inning game in less than 20 minutes with easy-to-use controls. The game features Season, Postseason, Exhibition and Local Multiplayer, including season saving and simulation capabilities. All 30 MLB ballparks are rendered in stunning detail and teams feature the latest rosters in regular updates. Players can modify lineups with complete MLB rosters or classic rosters allowing them to play their games their ways.

RBI Baseball 2017 debuted for the PS4 and Xbox One earlier this Spring, and it’ll be available to download through the Nintendo eShop and as a boxed release at your favorite retailer. Both versions of the game will be priced at $29.99… a $10 premium over the same download on the PlayStation Store or the Xbox Games Store.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Max Brooks’s Minecraft: The Island novel is now available at bookstores everywhere

Posted on July 18, 2017 by John Scalzo

Mojang teamed up with Max Brooks (the author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide) to create the first official tie-in novel based on Minecraft. Titled Minecraft: The Island, the book is targeted at a younger audience and it’s available on store shelves today.

When writing Minecraft: The Island, Brooks found inspiration in classics like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe to tell his own tale of survival and mystery:

Washed up on a beach, the lone castaway looks around the shore. Where am I? Who am I? And why is everything made of blocks? But there isn’t much time to soak up the sun. It’s getting dark, and there’s a strange new world to explore!

The top priority is finding food. The next is not becoming food. Because there are others out there on the island… like the horde of zombies that appear after night falls. Crafting a way out of this mess is a challenge like no other. Who could build a home while running from exploding creepers, armed skeletons, and an unstoppable tide of hot lava? Especially with no help except for a few makeshift tools and sage advice from an unlikely friend: a cow.

In this world, the rules don’t always make sense, but courage and creativity go a long way. There are forests to explore, hidden underground tunnels to loot, and undead mobs to defeat. Only then will the secrets of the island be revealed.

You can read the first chapter right now at the novel’s official website.

Posted in Etcetera, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

New Retail Releases: Splatoon 2, Fortnite, Aerea

Posted on July 16, 2017 by John Scalzo

The Squid Kids will make their Nintendo Switch debut this week, as Nintendo will release Splatoon 2 for their console/handheld hybrid this Friday. The sequel will feature the return of Turf War, as well as a brand new single-player Campaign, and the wave-based Salmon Run cooperative mode.

Also set to launch this week is Fortnite, a survival simulation from Epic Games for the PS4 and Xbox One. Players will be able to craft crazy weaponry for attack missions and build their own “extravagant” forts to keep the monsters at bay.

Finally this week, Triangle Studios and Soedesco will release Aerea: Collector’s Edition for the PS4. The music-themed action RPG includes four different character and a hand-drawn graphical style.

That’s it for this the Retail Releases Report, but we’ll be back with an update on the latest additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop later this week.

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

Nintendo Download: Hey! Pikmin demo, Miitopia demo, five new Switch games, more

Posted on July 13, 2017 by John Scalzo

Nintendo is planning to release several big games this Summer for the 3DS, but they’re giving handheld players a chance to try out these upcoming games titles with the launch of two special demos on the Nintendo eShop.

Hey! Pikmin will be released on July 28, and the demo asks players to “use the touch screen to throw Pikmin into action, solve environmental puzzles and survive hostile wildlife.” Miitopia will also be available on July 28, and its “Casting Call Demo” lets players add Mii characters to three different in-game video trailers for the RPG.

A quartet of new games for the Switch are also available to download today including Fatal Fury Special, a NeoGeo classic; I and Me, a puzzle platformer that stars two cats; De Mambo, a multiplayer arena game with one-button attacks; Death Squared, a puzzle game about “cooperation, communication, and robot explosions”; and Levels Plus, a puzzler with sliding tiles.

You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U |

Nintendo’s Eiji Aonuma is “gathering ideas” for next Legend of Zelda game but it will require a “long period” of development

Posted on July 12, 2017 by John Scalzo

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been a massive hit for Nintendo. It’s garnered rave reviews from critics and fans alike, and it instantly solidified the Switch as piece of must-have tech for a consolemaker in desperate need of a win. But if you were hoping that Nintendo was secretly working on the next game in franchise, I’ve got some bad news for you.

Franchise Producer Eiji Aonuma recently sat down with Gamereactor, and he confirmed that Nintendo is currently in the “gathering ideas” phase for a new entry in the Zelda series, but he also said that the game is still “far” off and will require a “long period” of development:

Gamereactor: Regarding the next Zelda, is there a schedule settled on yet? Could you give us any exclusive insights into that?

Eiji Aonuma: No, you will not get a scoop! Sorry, my dear friend [laughs]. We have no plans for a future Zelda, we are still far from all this unfortunately for you. Today, I’m at a stage where I’m trying to gather a number of ideas for a sequel, but I cannot do it alone. It’s a lot of work that will have to be done over a long period of time, and we’re still far from having planned anything. Leave us a little time…

For now, it looks like Zelda fans will have to make do with Breath of the Wild’s Expansion Pass. The first add-on, The Master Trials, was released two weeks ago. The second, The Champion’s Ballad, will be available this Fall.

Posted in News, Switch, Wii U | Tagged

Next Up Hero is a community brawler from the creator of Scribblenauts

Posted on July 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

5th Cell opened its doors in 2003, and the development house quickly established a reputation for creating quality quirky titles such as Drawn To Life and Scribblenauts. Over the weekend, co-founder Joe Tringali revealed his new home at Digital Continue, and his first project, Next Up Hero.

Next Up Hero is a “community brawler” that asks players to team up to defeat bigger and bigger foes. The twist is that only one player enters the game world at a time, though they’ll be accompanied by the ghosts of all the players that died before them to form the ultimate army:

Choose from nine heroes with an assortment of weapons and abilities to suit your playstyle, from swords and rocket launchers to laser turrets, bongo drums, and boomerangs.

When you die, you’ll leave behind an Echo of your hero on the battlefield. The next in the line of heroes will be able to resurrect your Echo as an AI battle companion. Take turns continuing friends’ games, fighting and dying until you have an entire army of Echoes by your side, and enough strength to finally defeat those jerk monsters. Everyone dies. Heroes continue.

Next Up Hero will be released through Steam’s Early Access program later this year, with a full launch for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One scheduled for Early 2018. The game’s first trailer has been embedded above.

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

The Escapists 2 will be released for PC, PS4, Xbox One on August 22

Posted on July 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

Team17 has announced that The Escapists 2 will be available for the PC, PS4, Xbox One on August 22. The top-down prison break simulator is also in development for the Switch, and will be released for Nintendo’s console at a later date.

The publisher has also confirmed that players who pre-order The Escapists 2 will get the chance to escape from another prison, “The Glorious Regime.” Other planned features for the game include:

Features

  • A dedicated tutorial for new players to learn the basics of prison life
  • 10 unique themed prisons to escape from including the frosty Fort Tundra, a train hurtling through the desert, and even a trip to the final frontier!
  • Play each prison solo or multiplayer with both local and online co-op and versus modes for up to four players
  • Drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer experience. Carefully plan and execute an intricate escape from your initial incarceration with your fellow inmates either online or locally, or simply hop into an existing game already in progress to help pull off the final touches of the escape!
  • A brand new combat system to make every prison brawl even more bruising
  • Create your con with over 300 customisations to create your perfect prisoner
  • New ways to escape
  • New items to craft… Build yourself a homemade Taser to knock out guards plus many more!

A brand new trailer for The Escapists 2 has been embedded above.

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