4/1: 8-Bit Bayonetta is a REAL game that you can download for free through Steam

Posted on April 1, 2017 by John Scalzo

It’s April 1st, which means you shouldn’t believe everything anything you read on the Internet today. But Sega really did transform Bayonetta into a pixelated side-scrolling shooter for April Fool’s Day.

8-Bit Bayonetta is now available to download for free from Steam, and its a Horde-like shooter where players help the Umbran Witch fight back against wave after wave of enemies:

Sega’s favourite Umbran Witch climaxes her way onto PC! Thrill to her signature beehive do in 8-bit pixelated glory! Jump! Shoot! Score! Being bad never felt so retro.

This isn’t the first time that Platinum Games has toyed with the idea of a retro-styled version of Bayonetta. 8-Bit Bayonetta is actually an expansion of Bayonetta: Angel Land, a fake trailer the developer put together for April Fool’s Day 2010.

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4/1: Blizzard offers “Choose Your Own Adventure” version of BlizzCon on their website

Posted on April 1, 2017 by John Scalzo

If you can’t make it to BlizzCon this year, don’t worry, Blizzard is offering a backup plan that promises to be just as good.

The BlizzCon Textual Adventure is now available through the convention’s official website, giving non-attendees the chance to “Choose Their Own Adventure” and experience this year’s BlizzCon without the hassles of a long plane ride, noisy crowds, and the latest games:

Experience BlizzCon for FREE! Exercise both your reading ability AND your perceived free will. You decide exactly how epic your BlizzCon will (or won’t) be!

Blizzard definitely did their homework for this April Fool’s Day gag. The first time I went through it, I was greeted by a random pair of aliens (a common occurrence in the real Choose Your Own Adventure books), and I’d assume there’s at least one ending where you die horribly.

The actual BlizzCon will be held in Anaheim on November 3rd and 4th, though it seems unlikely that attendees will run into aliens or die a gruesome death. According to Blizzard, BlizzCon Tickets will go on sale soon.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PC |

4/1: Dash through the streets as Ms. Pac-Man with Google Maps “Insert Coin” filter

Posted on April 1, 2017 by John Scalzo

Back in 2015, Google let Pac-Man and his ghostly adversaries loose on the streets of the world for April Fool’s Day. This year, they’ve recruited Pac-Man’s better half to do it again.

A Ms. Pac-Man filter is now available in Google Maps by clicking on the “Insert Coin” button in the lower left corner of the screen. As long as the location they pick has enough streets, players can gobble up dots for a high score or chase Ghosts after munching on a Power Pellet.

Best of all, the “Insert Coin” filter also works with the Google Maps app on your smartphone or tablet.

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4/1: AMC and the creators of Breaking Bad are NOT working on a Grand Theft Auto TV show

Posted on April 1, 2017 by John Scalzo

It’s April 1st, which means you shouldn’t believe everything anything you read on the Internet today. For example… AMC did not hire the creators of Breaking Bad to develop a television adaptation of Grand Theft Auto V.

The trailer making the rounds today was actually created by IGN, but the narration from Steven Ogg (he played Trevor Phillips in GTA5) gives it that extra jolt of authenticity and might help fool a few people.

While this trailer is just an April Fool’s Day prank, Take-Two Interactive might actually be working on a film adaptation of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Earlier this year, CEO Strauss Zelnick told MCV that his company has “licensed a couple of titles for motion picture production.” The executive didn’t name Grand Theft Auto as one of the titles, but prolific film director Roger Corman has repeatedly claimed that a settlement he signed with Take-Two more than a decade ago prevents the publisher from adapting Grand Theft Auto for the silver screen.

Corman produced Ron Howard’s directorial debut, 1977’s Grand Theft Auto, and he’s been trying to remake it for years. But instead of a gangland drama like The Godfather or Scarface, Howard’s film is a road comedy more closely related to something like The Blues Brothers. But if Corman is holding up the creation of a Grand Theft Auto film, it’s never been publicly acknowledged by Take-Two.

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The Video Game Canon – Pac-Man

Posted on March 31, 2017 by John Scalzo

Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look back at the true stories behind some of gaming’s greatest urban legends, most of which seem to revolve around Pac-Man. Here’s a teaser…

With more than 40 years of history behind it, it’s not surprising the video game community has developed its own catalog of urban legends that have been passed from player to player over the years. Everyone who played it desperately tried to resurrect Aerith after her tragic demise in Final Fantasy VII, and we all heard stories about the “nude codes” that supposedly existed in games like Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat II, and The Sims.

Unfortunately, every one of those rumors has more in common with the hook man at lover’s lane than they do with the unvarnished truth. But some of the legends are true. And nearly all of them revolve around Pac-Man in some way.

Pac-Man is a simple creature. Just a yellow circle with a triangular wedge removed to represent his mouth. Some will say his design was simplistic because the designers at Namco were working within the hardware limitations of the day. Those people would be wrong. The inspiration for Pac-Man overcame Namco’s Toru Iwatani after he snatched the first slice at a company pizza party and noticed that it looked like a circle with a mouth.

But it gets weirder from there.

Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.

Posted in Features, PC, PS3, PS4, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Thimbleweed Park, Punch Club, King of Fighters 95, more

Posted on March 31, 2017 by John Scalzo

Ron Gilbert, the mad genius behind The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion is back with his first new adventure game since 2013’s The Cave. Gilbert’s latest offering to gamers is Thimbleweed Park, which is now available to download for the Xbox One. Players will explore a haunted hotel, an abandoned circus, and a burnt-out pillow factory as they attempt to solve the mystery of the titular town. And don’t worry, “A dead body is the least of your problems.”

Also available to download through the Xbox Games Store today is Punch Club, a boxing management sim from Lazy Bear Games and TinyBuild. Players will “train hard, eat chicken, and punch dudes in the face” as they climb the ranks in this Xbox One game.

Finally today, Xbox One owners will get the chance to engage in a different kind of fisticuffs in SNK’s King of Fighters 95. The classic fighting game was originally released in 1995 and allowed players to create a custom team for the first time.

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

Press Start to Continue →

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Anarki is a “Transhuman Punk” in the latest Quake Champions trailer

Posted on March 31, 2017 by John Scalzo

We still don’t know when its Closed Beta will begin, but Bethesda and id Software recently deployed another Character Trailer for Quake Champions. This time around, fans will get a chance to meet “Anarki the Transhuman Punk,” a drug-addled lover of heavy metal and hoverboards:

Anarki (Transhuman Punk)
Anarki’s rebellion began with the usual self-vandalism, but he craved something greater, and found it in transhumanism. Addiction, injury, disease… Why tolerate flesh if he could replace it? Using family riches, he underwent increasingly extreme cybernetic surgeries. After a microelectrode pierced his pineal gland, Anarki perceived a surreal, alien reality breakthrough! He eagerly sought more procedures, ignoring the insomnia. Each strengthened his perception of the hidden realm. But only once he met a girl who saw it, too, was he sure he could reach it.

Active Ability – Health Injection: Taking too much damage? Good thing for you Anarki is well-versed in various performance enhancing … treatments. Use the Health Injection Active Ability to give Anarki a quick heal mid-match. Juice it up, baby!

Passive Ability – Hoverboard Air Control: Anarki’s hoverboard is a brutal bonus. Anarki is already one of the fastest Champions in the game, but the hoverboard means he can actually gain speed as he strafe-jumps around the Arenas, reaching a ludicrous velocity. In addition, his hoverboard awards a special Passive Ability that allows players more control in mid-air to turn sharply and chase down enemies or escape those who dare follow him up a jump pad.

Three Champions have been revealed so far, and Anarki will join Nyx the Fathom Agent and Scalebearer the Galactic Warlord on the battlefield in Quake Champions when it launches later this year.

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Cities: Skylines will break new ground on the Xbox One on April 21

Posted on March 31, 2017 by John Scalzo

Paradox Interactive has announced that Cities: Skylines will be released for the Xbox One on April 21.

The console edition was developed by Tantalus Media, who rebuilt and optimized the city management sim with full controller support. In addition to adding a new control scheme to Cities: Skylines, the developer also bundled in After Dark, the game’s nightlife-focused expansion.

Cities: Skylines will be available for $39.99 as a retail disc release and as a digital download through the Xbox Games Store.

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