Home Run Derby VR, The Swords of Ditto, Cosmic Star Heroine, more coming to PS Store this week

Posted on April 25, 2018 by John Scalzo

Home runs and heroes headline this week’s PlayStation Store update…

First up, MLB Advanced Media is putting a bat in your hands in Home Run Derby VR. The PSVR-powered game will give players the chance to live out their diamond dreams on baseball’s biggest stage in “the most immersive and authentic” home run derby game ever made.

Also available to download this week is The Swords of Ditto, an overhead action RPG for the PS4 from Devolver Digital and Onebitbeyond. With its roguelike mechanics, players will throw an entire legion of heroes against the game’s enemies to create “a heroic legacy” that binds them together.

Finally this week, Zeboyd Games will finally bring Cosmic Star Heroine to the PS Vita. It’s Cross-Buy compatible, so if you already own the game on the PS4, you’ll receive the Vita version for free.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break.

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The Road to E3 2018: Smash Bros., Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and the Rest of Nintendo’s Surprises

Posted on April 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

The 2018 E3 Expo begins in exactly 49 days… so let the speculation begin! Today, we’re peering into our crystal ball at what Nintendo might have in store for gaming’s biggest showcase.

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Play as Thanos in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 with the Avengers: Infinity War Character and Level Pack

Posted on April 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

We’re just a few days away from the premiere of Avengers: Infinity War, but first, Thanos will make his debut in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.

The Avengers: Infinity War Character and Level Pack is now available to download for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, and players will be able to challenge the Inhumans as The Mad Titan in a brand new level:

This action-packed level offers players the chance to control Thanos, one of the most dangerous Super Villains in the Marvel Universe, and his ruthless army. The Mad Titan and the Children of Thanos have invaded Attilan to take on Black Bolt and the Inhumans in an all-new original game level. Working as a team, the menacing crew must work their way through the various levels of Attilan before they are given the opportunity to break through to Black Bolt’s throne.

New unlockable characters Thanos, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Hulkbuster 2.0, and Groot (Avengers: Infinity War) add to the main game’s roster of over 200 Super Heroes and Super Villains.

The Avengers: Infinity War Character and Level Pack is available to download as part of Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2’s Season Pass ($14.99) or as a standalone download ($2.99). A trailer for the add-on has been embedded above.

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Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will be released for the Switch on June 29

Posted on April 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

Bethesda has announced that Switch owners won’t have to wait much longer to play Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. According to the publisher, the shooter sequel will be available for Nintendo’s newest console on June 29.

A trailer for Wolfenstein II’s Switch debut has been embedded above, and it gives fans their first look at the game’s unique (and optional) motion controls:

As BJ Blazkowicz, experience an unforgettable action-packed story brought to life by extraordinary characters. Reunite with your friends and fellow freedom fighters as you take on the evil Frau Engel and her Nazi army. Wage the second American Revolution your way – at home or on the go. And, for the perfect blend of immersion and accuracy, utilize Nintendo Switch’s unique motion controls to stop the Nazi threat.

Like Bethesda’s Switch port of Doom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was developed by Panic Button, and it’ll include “the complete, uncensored, award-winning story and signature gameplay” of the original game.

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Valve has acquired Firewatch developer Campo Santo

Posted on April 23, 2018 by John Scalzo

Valve hasn’t published a new game since 2013’s Dota 2, but that’s all about to change in the very near future. Over the weekend, the gatekeepers of Steam acquired Campo Santo, the team behind Firewatch. In an announcement on their official website, the developer said that their pairing with Valve came about due a mutual enjoyment of “making and producing entertainment”:

If you’re the type of person who gives two flips about this news, we can elaborate a little bit on this big decision. First, we really like making video games. Furthermore, and perhaps more accurately, we really like making and producing entertainment. From the day-to-day production of our last game, Firewatch, to the way we run the company, make merchandise, meet players at expos and shows, send out a quarterly literary journal, throw open-to-the-public game demos in the middle of an artificial forest—all of it is geared towards surprising, delighting, and entertaining the customers who have shared in our success.

In Valve we found a group of folks who, to their core, feel the same way about the work that they do (this, you may be surprised to learn, doesn’t happen every day). In us, they found a group with unique experience and valuable, diverse perspectives. It quickly became an obvious match.

Campo Santo has promised that it will be business as usual going forward, with Valve now signed on to publish their next game, In the Valley of Gods. The developer also said they will continue to publish their literary journal, The Quarterly Review, and future support for Firewatch (including the upcoming Switch launch) will continue as planned.

Finally, this whole deal may have happened because Campo Santo stole a bottle of champagne from IGN that was originally destined for Valve. It sounds a little far-fetched, but I want to believe that it’s nothing but the truth.

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New Retail Releases: Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, South Park: Fractured But Whole, More

Posted on April 23, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s another slow week for the employees at your local game store, but a handful of new releases will make their way to retail shops this week…

First up is Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, a PS4 adaptation of the hit animated show. Previously available to download through the PlayStation Store, the developer has promised that players will explore the insane multiverse of Rick & Morty with a PlayStation VR headset and “solve puzzles, step through portals into strange dimensions, get yelled at by Rick, fight aliens, drink detergent,” and “press buttons.”

And speaking of animation for adults… South Park: The Fractured But Whole launched last year for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but Switch owners will finally get a chance to purchase the superhero RPG from Ubisoft. Switch owners will also be able to buy Red Hook’s ultra-challenging RPG, Darkest Dungeon: Ancestral Edition this week.

Continuing the “For Adults” theme, PQube will release Gal*Gun 2 this week for the PS4 and Switch. The shooter sequel asks players to help a pack of possessed teenagers by shooting them with a “love gun.” Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, another Japanese oddity from Aksys Games, will be available for the Vita this week.

Elsewhere on store shelves, Big Ben will bring a pair of extreme racing games to the Switch (Aqua Moto Racing Utopia and Snow Moto Racing Freedom), and they’ll be joined by Max: The Curse of Brotherhood from Flashbulb Games.

Finally this week, the GameStop-exclusive mystery game The Invisible Hours will make its Xbox One debut.

That’s all for now, but we’ll be back later this week with a look at all the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.

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Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition will be released for Switch this Summer

Posted on April 21, 2018 by John Scalzo

In 1993, Nintendo of America Chairman Howard Lincoln testified before Congress about the growing debate around “Violent Video Games.” Lincoln’s testimony tried to shift the blame away from Nintendo, and accused Sega and Midway of peddling their gory games directly to children. To say it wasn’t his finest hour might be an understatement.

But he also made sure that the assembled senators (and everyone watching on C-SPAN) knew that Night Trap would never appear on a Nintendo system:

In the past year, some very violent and offensive games have reached the market. And of course I’m speaking about Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. And let me say that for the record, I want to state that Night Trap will never appear on a Nintendo system. Obviously it would not pass our guidelines. This game… which, as you’ve indicated… promotes violence against women, simply has no place in our society.

Somewhere, Howard Lincoln is dining on a large plate of crow, as Screaming Villains has announced that Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition will be released for the Switch this Summer.

Players must operate a trap-based security system to keep a group of teenage girls safe from a pack of invading vampires in Night Trap, and the game, which popularized the Full Motion Video genre, will be available to download through the Nintendo eShop. A special physical release of Night Trap (a game-only Standard Edition and a to-be-announced Collector’s Edition) will also be available from Limited Run Games.

The first trailer for Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition’s Switch debut has been embedded above.

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Phantom Trigger, Samurai Shodown IV, more added to Xbox Store

Posted on April 20, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s Friday, and Microsoft has added a handful of new games to the Xbox Games Store…

First up is Phantom Trigger, a “neon slasher” with RPG and roguelike elements from TinyBuild and Bread Team. Xbox One owners who purchase Phantom Trigger will also receive a copy for their Windows 10 PC through the Xbox Play Anywhere program. Also available to download today for the Xbox One is Samurai Shodown IV, yet another one-on-one fighting game that originally appeared on the NeoGeo.

You can learn more about all of today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break.

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