Sega is bringing demos of Team Sonic Racing, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Valkyria Chronicles 4, and more to PAX West 2018

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

Like a lot of publishers, Sega’s presence at PAX West 2018 will look very similar to the slate of playable demos they brought to last week’s Gamescom show. This year, the prolific publisher is going all-in with Sonic’s latest racing adventure, two dance-heavy Persona spinoffs, and the latest entry in the Valkyria Chronicles franchise.

Here’s a sneak peek at the full lineup of games scheduled to appear in their PAX West booth (#2513):

Placing First: Team Sonic Racing
First off the blocks as always is the blue blur himself. Team Sonic Racing, developed by the award-winning studio Sumo Digital, combines the best elements of arcade and fast-paced competitive style racing experience, featuring your favorite characters from across the Sonic Universe. Visitors at PAX will have the opportunity to race on the newly revealed track Ice Mountain, and play as Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose, or Team Vector.

Get Ready for Total War
The latest in Creative Assembly’s legendary Total War series, Total War: Three Kingdoms is set to showcase some exciting content of its own. The hands-on demo will give players the opportunity to explore the exotic lands of ancient China in a campaign map flythrough before being thrust into the midst of a night-time ambush battle. Sun Jian’s army, led by Sun Ren and Sun Quan, face either a desperate defence against waves of incoming heroes and warriors or a gruelling fight to escape with what remains of their forces, and live to fight another day.

Japanese Games Galore
As if that wasn’t enough, Sega is bringing a whopping four games to the show floor! With tactical RPG Valkyria Chronicles 4, frantic action/adventure Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, and the hugely anticipated rhythm games Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, they will be hosting a collection of some of the hottest Japanese IP on the planet. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to play everything!

Last but by no means least is Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 which after a successful initial release in Japan, has just launched worldwide in English so that all fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series from Atlus can finally play the renowned post-apocalyptic RPG on their mobile devices. Swing by the Sega booth’s presentation stage for a chance to see one of the daily appearances by Producer Norio Furuichi, who also previously worked on Virtua Tennis series and Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force.

Sega is also inviting fans to learn about “previously untold secrets and nuanced details about how Japanese games are localized and published for the western audience” in the a panel (“A Sega Perspective: Bringing Japanese Games to the West”) scheduled for Saturday, September 1, at 4:30 (Pacific Time).

If you can’t make it to Seattle for this year’s PAX West, you can view the full panel at home through Twitch.

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Play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (and 8 other Switch games) at Nintendo’s PAX West 2018 booth

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo is putting most of their eggs in a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-shaped basket this Fall, though the consolemaker is also planning to release a few other big titles for the Switch before the end of the year. But if you’re attending PAX West later this week, don’t worry, they’ll have playable demos of all of them on the show floor, along with several eagerly-anticipated third-party games.

In addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, fans will be able to stop by Nintendo’s booth (#1939) to try out Super Mario Party, Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu!, and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee!. Playable demos for Ubisoft’s Starlink: Battle For Atlas, Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ, Blizzard’s Diablo III: Eternal Collection, Grasshopper Manufacture’s No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, and NIS America’s SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy will also be available.

“Many of our biggest fans descend on Seattle every year to celebrate video games at PAX West,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “It’s the perfect venue for us to interact directly with our fans with fun activities and engaging hands-on demos with some of our upcoming games.”

Nintendo will also host a handful of special events at PAX West 2018, and you can learn more about them after the break.

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Capcom will bring playable demos of Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2, Mega Man 11, and Street Fighter V to PAX West 2018

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

The annual PAX West expo kicks off in Seattle later this week, and game publishers have begun to talk about what they’ll have on display at the big show.

Capcom has shown off a quartet of upcoming titles at E3 and Gamescom, and a similar set of demo kiosks have will be lined up at their PAX West booth (#2109)… Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2, Mega Man 11, and Street Fighter V.

According to the Capcom-Unity blog, the publisher will also host “The SSStylish Gameplay of Devil May Cry 5,” a panel with Director Hideaki Itsuno, Producer Michiteru Okabe, and Producer Matthew Walker.

You can learn more about all of Capcom’s playable demos at PAX West 2018 after the break.

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Dean Dodrill’s Dust: An Elysian Tail will be released for Switch on September 10

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

Dean Dodrill first launched Dust: An Elysian Tail on the Xbox 360 in 2012. Since then, the developer has brought his side-scrolling action RPG to the PC, PS4, and iOS-based mobile devices.

And on September 10th, it’ll become the latest indie darling to make its downloadable debut on the Nintendo Switch:

A physical version of Dust: An Elysian Tail is also in the works at Limited Run Games, and pre-orders will open on August 31st.

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Streets of Rage 4 announced ahead of PAX West 2018

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

Are you headed to PAX West this weekend? Publisher Dotemu has announced they’re bringing back Sega’s Streets of Rage franchise, and the sequel will be playable in Seattle for the first time.

Streets of Rage 4 is currently in development at Guard Crush Games, and Lizardcube has been tasked with creating the game’s hand-drawn visuals. Guard Crush is best known for their 2015 homage to the brawler genre, Street of Fury, though both teams have experience with reimagining Genesis-era games. Just last year, Lizardcube released side-scrolling platformer Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

An Announcement Trailer for Streets of Rage 4 has been embedded above, and Dotemu promised that fans of the franchise should expect an “arcade-style romp”:

Streets of Rage 4 builds upon the classic trilogy’s gameplay with new mechanics, a fresh story, and a gauntlet of dangerous stages with a serious crime problem. Streets of Rage 4 recalls classic gameplay but it stands as an entirely original arcade-style romp thanks to the expertise of Guard Crush Games and Dotemu.

Whether players gang up with a friend or clean up the city solo, Streets of Rage 4 is a skull-bashing, chicken-chomping delight all set to a thumping soundtrack sure to get your blood pumping.

We don’t yet know which platforms Street of Rage 4 is coming to, but given Dotemu’s track record, it seems likely they’ll try to make it as widely available as possible.

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New Retail Releases: Divinity: Original Sin II, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Yakuza Kiwami 2, More

Posted on August 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

Publishers usually wait until September to get going on the Fall gaming avalanche, but it looks like the last week of August gets that honor this year. More than a dozen new game releases will make their way to store shelves over the next seven days, and gamers are excited about almost all of them.

Larian Studios will start things off with the release of their latest RPG, Divinity: Original Sin II – Definitive Edition, for the PS4 and Xbox One. After that, we move on to a ton of old games in new places, including Sega’s Yakuza Kiwami 2 for the PS4, and three new-old games for the Switch (Capcom’s Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, THQ Nordic’s De Blob 2, and Haemimont’s Victor Vran: Overkill Edition).

Fans of the beautiful game get another shot at the goal with the launch of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 for the PS4 and Xbox One.

And fighting games push their way to the forefront with Blade Strangers (PS4, Switch), Nicalis’s crazy crossover brawler; Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (PS4, Xbox One), Bandai Namco’s latest adaptation of the popular anime series; and Fire Pro Wrestling World (PS4), Spike Chunsoft’s latest wrestling opus.

Finally this wekk, a few critically-acclaimed games are being re-released in new editions with extra features including Rocket League: Ultimate Edition (PS4, Switch, Xbox One) and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War – Definitive Edition (PS4, Xbox One).

You can find the complete list of this week’s new retail releases after the break.

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins “Best of Gamescom” at Gamescom 2018

Posted on August 25, 2018 by John Scalzo

Gamescom 2018 closed its doors for the last time today, and From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice slashed its way towards the coveted “Best of Gamescom” award.

There were a wide range of winners at this year’s expo, with all three consolemakers predictably winning “Best Game” on their respective platforms. In case you were wondering, those awards went to Spider-Man (“Best PS4 Game”), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (“Best Xbox One Game”), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (“Best Nintendo Switch Game”). Nintendo’s fighter also collected the audience-voted award “Most Wanted Consumer Award.”

Other platform-specific awards were claimed by Ubisoft’s Anno 1800 (“Best PC Game”) and Madfinger’s Shadowgun War Games (“Best Mobile Game”).

The complete list of nominees and winners can be found after the break. And it’s never too early to start planning for next year’s expo. Gamescom organizers announced that next year’s show will begin on August 20.

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Epic Games will add “robust competition system” to Fortnite this Fall

Posted on August 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

Epic Games hand-delivered the “August 2018” development update for Fortnite earlier today on their official website. The communique from the development team includes new information about weapon balancing and building effectiveness, as well as the first statement about the battle royale’s recent launch on Android platforms.

But the real meat of this announcement can be found under the Competitive heading, which is where Epic announced that a “robust competition system” is coming to the game this Fall:

We are aware of a strong desire from competitive players for more opportunities to compete directly against one another within the same match. Development recently began for a robust competition system which will allow for all players to compete with one another and be recognized for their accomplishments. The first version of this feature is expected later this Fall.

Ideally, this new scoring system will help Fortnite transition into the full-fledged esport that Epic hopes it’ll be.

In addition to the new competition system, the developer also confirmed that “the ability to completely remap your gamepad to exactly your preference” will also be added to Fortnite this Fall.

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