Detective Pikachu, The Alliance Alive, Outlast II, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week

Posted on March 22, 2018 by John Scalzo

This week’s Nintendo eShop update is a bit smaller than normal, but Nintendo still wants to “clue” 3DS owners in on the upcoming release of Detective Pikachu on March 23. The mystery adventure will give the famed Pokemon a voice for the first time, and players will need to help him investigate the strange occurrences happening all over Ryme City.

3DS owners will also get the chance to download a new RPG from Atlus, The Alliance Alive, beginning on March 27. In The Alliance Alive, Daemons invaded the world of Humans over a thousand years ago. But a resistance is forming and players will need to band together a team of rebels and take back the world.

Speaking of demons, Switch owners will be able to download Outlast II beginning on March 27. Red Barrels’s first-person sequel introduces new characters and a creepy doomsday cult in this horror adventure. But if you’re looking for a few cute demons, isometric horror puzzler Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut is now available to download for the Switch.

You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in 3DS, News, Switch | Tagged ,

Prepare yourself… to not be shocked in the slightest… Zelda: Breath of the Wild won “Game of the Year” at 2018 GDC Awards

Posted on March 22, 2018 by John Scalzo

gdcawardsThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild continues its sweep of this year’s “Game of the Year” awards, as it won the top honor at last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards. Developers for the adventure game also strode on stage to collect awards for “Best Audio” and “Best Design” during the ceremony.

The unique visual stylings of Jason Roberts’s Gorogoa were honored with the “Innovation Award,” and the puzzle game’s portability were also honored as “Best Mobile/Handheld Game.” Studio MDHR also carried home multiple trophies during last night’s GDC Awards ceremony for Cuphead, including “Best Debut” and “Best Visual Art,”

“Every year sees countless amazing games worthy of recognition, but this year in particular has seen some of the strongest titles to arrive this generation. The GDCAs give us an opportunity to reflect on and honor the games that provided us with endless joy,” said Katie Stern, the General Manager of the Game Developers Conference. “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild helped us rediscover a childlike sense of adventure and discovery. Titles like Gorogoa and What Remains of Edith Finch offered us distinct creative visions that can only be experienced in games, and games like Cuphead and Horizon: Zero Dawn crafted worlds we could lose ourselves in. Congratulations to all of tonight’s nominees and winners and thank you for your creativity and dedication.”

A replay of the 2018 GDC Awards ceremony can be viewed at the Twitch channel for the Game Developers Conference. And a complete list of the winners can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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

Night in the Woods wins the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2018 IGF Awards

Posted on March 22, 2018 by John Scalzo

Indie developers from around the world got dressed up last night to fit in with the pomp and circumstance of the the Independent Games Festival’s 2018 IGF Awards ceremony. But it was Infinite Fall’s Night in the Woods that took home the top prize, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, as well as the IGF Award for “Excellence In Narrative.”

Night in the Woods had plenty of company on the big stage, as Amanita Design’s Chuchel (“Excellence In Visual Art”), Hempuli’s Baba Is You (“Excellence In Design” and “Best Student Game”), Nifflas Game’s Uurnog Uurnlimited (“Excellence In Audio”), and Bennett Foddy’s Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy (the “Nuovo Award”) all took home at least one IGF Award of their own.

A replay of the 2018 IGF Awards ceremony can be viewed at the Twitch channel for the Game Developers Conference.

Congratulations to all the winners, and don’t forget, GDC attendees will be able to try out all the winner and nominees at the IGF Pavilion on the expo floor through Friday, March 23. A complete list is available after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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

Home Run Derby VR will launch for PS VR, Vive this Spring; 2018 update for MLB Home Run Derby Mobile coming March 27

Posted on March 21, 2018 by John Scalzo

With RBI Baseball 18 now available for the PS4 and Xbox One, MLB Advanced Media is turning their attention to their next two game releases.

With Opening Day fast approaching, Major League Baseball’s interactive arm has announced that MLB Home Run Derby Mobile‘s 2018 update will step up to the plate first on March 27:

MLB Home Run Derby will continue to be available as a free download on the App Store and Google Play and this year includes more than 20 iconic MLB ballparks, highlighted by its HD re-creation of Nationals Park, host of the 2018 T-Mobile Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard. Fans may play in both single player and multiplayer modes for a chance to capture the Home Run Derby crown, reach the top of the worldwide leaderboards, compete against more than 11.5 million game players in daily tournaments and earn valuable upgrades. This year’s version also includes hi-res renderings of more than 50 participants from the 2010-17 competitions.

The developer also revealed that Home Run Derby VR will make its way to the PC and PS4 later this Spring. Supporting the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR headsets, Home Run Derby VR will let players swing for the fences like never before:

MLB’s first console virtual reality video game, Home Run Derby VR, will be available commercially for the first time – coming to Sony PlayStation VR and HTC Vive (available at launch via Steam) – and will feature three All-Star ballparks from 2017-19. Fans will be able to step into the batter’s boxes at Marlins Park (Miami), Nationals Park (Washington, DC) and Progressive Field (Cleveland) to score as many points as possible in the timed home run competition.

More details about Home Run Derby VR’s upcoming launch will be announced at a later date.

Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Sea of Thieves, RBI Baseball 18, Assassin’s Creed: Rogue Remastered, more added to Xbox Store

Posted on March 21, 2018 by John Scalzo

Prepare to walk the plank in Microsoft’s mid-week Xbox Games Store update…

Two pirate-themed adventures are now available to download for the Xbox One including Rare’s multiplayer-focused Sea of Thieves (which also includes access to the PC version through the Xbox Play Anywhere program) and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Rogue Remastered re-release.

Also available to download today for the Xbox One are MLB Advanced Media’s RBI Baseball 18 and Koei Tecmo’s Attack On Titan 2.

You can learn more about the rest of today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store (including THQ Nordic’s Titan Quest and Square Enix’s Octahedron) after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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

February 2018’s best-selling game was Monster Hunter: World… and Nintendo Switch set the record for first-year console sales in US

Posted on March 21, 2018 by John Scalzo

The Nintendo Switch continues to break records, and the consolemaker can now add “Best First-Year Sales in the US” to its trophy case. The news comes courtesy of The NPD Group’s February 2018 report (via GamesIndustry.biz), which estimates that Nintendo sold more than five million Switch consoles in the US over the previous 12 months.

On the software side of the ledger, Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World was the top-selling game yet again. It was challenged by several new releases in February, but while EA Sports UFC 3 (#7), Kingdom Come: Deliverance (#8), Bayonetta 2 (#14), and Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (#18) all cracked the top 20, none could dethrone Monster Hunter: World.

The NPD Group’s complete top 20 for February 2018 can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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

A Way Out, Ni No Kuni II, Attack On Titan 2, more coming to PS Store this week

Posted on March 21, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s time for another PlayStation Store update, and this week, a decent-sized handful of highly-anticipated new games will be available to download from the digital storefront…

Leading the way this week is A Way Out, a co-op prison break for the PS4 from Electronic Arts and Hazelight. A Way Out was directed by Josef Fares, the same developer who shepherded the creation of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons in 2013.

A pair of sequels will also be available to download for the PS4 this week. Bandai Namco will once again team with animators from Studio Ghibli for Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. And Koei Tecmo will return to the world of Attack On Titan with Attack On Titan 2.

Finally this week, MLB Advanced Media will step up to the plate with RBI Baseball 18 for the PS4, and Ubisoft will give 2014’s Assassin’s Creed: Rogue a second chance on the PS4 with a Remastered re-release.

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

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News, PS4, Vita | Tagged , , , ,

Hyper Light Drifter will come to the Switch this Summer

Posted on March 20, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo unveiled a bunch of new “Nindies” during their Nindies Showcase presentation earlier this afternoon… but they’re still not done. The consolemaker just confirmed that Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter will be available for the Switch this Summer:

Hyper Light Drifter is a retro-styled Action RPG that was originally released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2016. A Wii U version was planned, but was canceled later that year after the developer had problems producing a presentable port.

Now here we are in 2018, and it looks like Nintendo fans will finally get a chance to play the game in just a few short months.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged