New Trailer for Next Episode Focusing on Story and World Structure
SYDNEY, 29th June 2020 – SQUARE ENIX® is excited to announce the second OUTRIDERS™Broadcast. The OUTRIDERS Broadcast gives players a glimpse of an epic journey into a dark and desperate world. Players will learn about the visceral powers, brutal combat and enthralling environments that awaits them in the highly anticipated upcoming RPG-Shooter from People Can Fly, the developers of Gears of War: Judgment and BULLETSTORM, andSquare Enix External Studios, the minds behind SLEEPING DOGS® and JUST CAUSE®.
Entitled “Beyond the Frontier,” the second OUTRIDERS Broadcast features new environments, breaks down the structure of the game, and presents a deeper look at the Pyromancer class.
The second episode of the OUTRIDERS Broadcast will air on Thursday, July 2nd at 9am PDT | 5pm BST | Friday, July 3rd 2am AEST. Tune in at www.twitch.tv/squareenix
“We’ve built an immersive game world with the player at the centre. You will make your mark on the world of OUTRIDERS, your actions and accomplishments are recognized by the people of Enoch’s towns and settlements. Your journey through the wild frontiers of a world that has hyper-evolved to kill Humanity will be an epic tale of power, discovery and the price we pay to reach beyond the horizon”, said Bartek Kmita, Creative Director at People Can Fly. “We can’t wait to give players a better look at how the campaign, side-quests and additional content all fit together. There’s definitely going to be a lot for players to do in OUTRIDERS, whether they’re playing by themselves or in co-op.”
OUTRIDERS will release on PlayStation 5®, PlayStation 4®, Xbox Series X, the Xbox One family of devices, and PC in Holiday 2020.
Information about Tales of Arise has been fairly scarce since it was first revealed last year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC and it seems that recent events are at least partly the reason for that. Bandai Namco has announced that Tales of Arise will no longer be releasing sometime in 2020 and will now be releasing at some point after that as the company has not created a new release window for the game at this time.
Yusuke Tomizawa, the producer of the game, made a message to fans saying that the COVID-19 pandemic affected numerous parts of the game’s development and although the team did its best to adapt to their new working conditions, the game will need to be delayed to meet expectations.
The full statement can be found below:
As you may have already seen in media stories and on our social media channels, we have made the decision to delay the launch timing of “Tales of Arise”, the latest title in the “Tales of” series.
The goal for Tales of Arise is to provide a familiar but innovative gameplay experience to fans of the series, while pushing the technical envelope to deliver a high level of graphical quality to impress both long-time players and those who have never played a Tales of game. Development on the title has move steadily forward in 2020 as we overcame challenges along the way.
While COVID-19 has affected some aspects of development, we’ve done our best to adapt to the situation and have implemented remote development capabilities for our team.
However, to achieve the quality and provide the gorgeous experience we envision for our players, we will need more time to realize that vision and therefore we decided to delay the launch timing for Tales of Arise.
A new launch window update will be provided once we have more details to share.
Fans have been waiting eagerly to see what Halo Infinite has to offer since it was first revealed two years ago with little information about what type of threat the Master Chief and the UNSC will be facing off against this time around. There are always the standard Covenant forces and Sentinels to worry about as well as the possibility of the Flood but this latest teaser from Microsoft is pointing towards a powerful foe returning from the RTS series, Halo Wars.
The teaser features the voice of Atriox, leader of the Banished and a member of the Brutes that first appeared in Halo 2. The Banished, which appeared in Halo Wars 2, were a radical group that rebelled against the Covenant and this time around it seems that they will be featured in at least some form when Halo Infinite is released later this year. Though for now, fans can expect some form of news likely coming this next month during Microsoft’s planned July streaming event.
Hardspace: Shipbreakerputs players in the role of a novice shipbreaker who has joined the Lynx Corporation under contract and has now found themselves under a massive debt. To work themselves out of their debt slavery, players will need to break down dangerous ships into processable parts for credits.
The game is currently on Steam Early Access. The first act of the campaign and a free play mode are available. Three ship models can be broken down as of publishing. The game is mostly feature complete with future updates focusing on quality of life and content additions.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker offers players a unique gameplay experience. The danger in the game is not some creature mercilessly stalking the player or a trap laying in wait, it is the player’s own carelessness. Players use lasers to cut apart ships and grapple guns to haul parts into the appropriate bin for money to pay off their loans. If they fail to check where they cut, remember where hazardous equipment is located, or treat dangerous equipment without proper care; then they will get hurt or worse, destroy valuable materials. As players fulfill specific work orders on the ship, they are awarded points used for equipment upgrades that will make them faster, stronger, and tougher. A gentle time pressure of fifteen minutes per in-game day is applied, with bonuses assigned to players who can complete everything within the time limit.
The game uses Newtonian physics style controls. Players don’t move in a direction but rather push themselves in a direction and the force will carry them forward until they hit the brakes. This leads to interesting tricks like flinging oneself at high speeds using the reel on the grapple gun and using the brakes to stop at the intended destination. Combined with the six degrees of freedom, Hardspace: Shipbreaker can be incredibly disorienting and a little frustrating initially for players used to gravity. It takes a few hours to get used to the idea that there is no such thing as up and down in general. Once that learning hump is crossed, the lack of gravity adds a layer of complexity as it stops being a hinderance and becomes one of the tools in the belt to break down ships quickly.
The actual controls are not too much of a departure from traditional first-person games, allowing players to focus more on learning the physics instead of wrestling with a ton of new keys. The biggest problem is the initial version of the game released with no bind editor. Players are simply issued with a one size fits all layout that seems oddly appropriate for the in-game corporate overlords. The developers have announced an editor for both controllers and mouse/keyboard combos will be available in the next build. Considering this is a game launched exclusively for PC, it’s a bit confusing why the developers thought this was an appropriate omission right out of the gate. The other main issue is the function of the F button, which currently severs the function of grabbing items to use and pushing items away with the grapple gun. Considering the already floaty nature of the game’s Newtonian-like physics, accidentally shoving away a data disk when the player attempts to float by and pick up is an unnecessary annoyance. The two functions need to be split up to different keys or one of the functions needs to be paired with a less disruptive function.
The difficulty in Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a bit rough right now. The tutorial is basic and is missing a lot of tips and hints that would make the initial learning process easier. While several guide writers on Steam have filled in the gaps, I hope the developers do a little expansion of their own before the release of the game. Because there are only three ships right now, the jump in difficulty between ship classes is severe. The tutorial ship and the light Mackerel ship is very similar, but the gap between the Mackerel and the Gecko is enormous. The game does offer a freeplay mode for players to experiment with breaking ships, but the features are very basic with only unlimited resources. Something that would allow players to “reset” parts of the ship or the whole ship while in game would be a lot more helpful.
The audio/visual experience is solid so far. The visual style is very industrial. The ship designs are angular and practical, looking more like they were manufactured to be as cheap and durable as possible without the fancy bells and whistles. The sound effects are well done. The spatial effects are excellent and even become a game mechanic for avoiding environmental dangers with the correct in-game upgrades. The voice acting is a mix of human and computer-generated voices. While the computer-generated voices can be a little odd for a game, I will give the developers a little leeway as it does fit in with the space setting. The soundtrack is excellent so far with classic space electronica mixed with relaxing Americana. It evokes a feeling of blue-collar work in space.
There are a few improvements that I would like to see in future versions. The hard fifteen-minute time limit isn’t for everyone. I found myself pining for more time during the first few attempts on new ships. Getting the balance right might be a little tricky, but I think offering players a slider to set their own day length and adjusting the stats for the leaderboard accordingly would be the fairest solution. The last improvement may be a long shot, but Hardspace: Shipbreaker has all the hallmarks of a great co-op game. The emphasis on efficient action and the absolute chaos the physics and hazard systems are capable of creating would be perfect for two to four players.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is already an excellent game with a bright future ahead of it as more content is added. The constant swing between zen-like labour and tense pressure creates an addictive gameplay loop. Although the game gives players some milestones, it’s the unspoken milestones that evoke the most joy in the game, like looking at the very first fully gutted ship. In its current state, the game is already worth a purchase.
A lot of people in the industry bring up games that are ported and brought out to every platform, every single generation. Skyrim and Resident Evil definitely get the most notice, but one franchise floats by like a little bee, spreading its namesake without question or contest, with little complaints from audiences. Namco Museum has been around for decades now, ensuring we get our Pac-Man and Dig Dug fixes, while offering other arcade classics to check out in low-cost bundles. As you would guess, Namco Museum Archives Volumes 1 & 2 seem to be a perfect fit for the Switch and have brought back some favorites with new features for the portable platform. How do these play? Let’s find out.
Story
Well, to be honest – aside from the mild narratives within a few of these titles, there is no engrossing story as most of these titles are simply arcade-centric gameplay, with a few bits and pieces of dialogue sprinkled in for progression’s sake.
That said, the titles featured within both of these bundles are as follows:
Volume 1
Dig Dug (1985)
Dragon Buster (1987)
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (1989)
Galaxian (1984)
Mappy (1984)
Pac-Man (1984)
Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007)
Sky Kid (1986)
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (1989)
The Tower of Druaga (1985)
Xevious (1984)
Volume 2
Battle City (1985)
Dig Dug II (1986)
Dragon Buster II (1989)
Galaga (1985)
Gaplus (1984)
Legacy of the Wizard (1987)
Mappy-Land (1986)
Mendel Palace (1989)
Pac-Land (1985)
Rolling Thunder (1989)
Super Xevious: GAMP no Nazo (1986)
Gameplay
It would take quite a while to detail every game in both collections, so I will save you from having to hear me detail how Pac-Man plays and talk about the unique features brought by these new versions of old favorites. First, and this may have been around for a while, I have to talk about the rewind feature as while I am sure other Namco Museum collections have had this, it definitely feels useful here as players can erase their own mistakes. I think Nintendo and Sega refined this in a lot of their ports, and it feels natural for Namco here as I cannot tell you how many times I had to erase bad decisions in Galaga and Xevious, which can get a lot harder than I remember as you progress.
Players can also make use of the “save” option, where they are able to load one of four prior save files that can be created anywhere. Those of us who have always wanted to go until the end of Pac-Man now will find that goal much more possible with these features in play. This was also the first time I have played Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, which is a side-scroller with a lot of character that I honestly enjoyed way more than I should have. Pac-Man: Championship Edition also was a nice addition, but this version is a “demake”, featuring the same quick gameplay, but with graphics more tuned to the original. Sure, it will not be a selling point, but a nice addition, nevertheless.
Both Namco Museum Archives volumes featured are absolutely fine compilations, and the features are all rather traditional for these types of releases, but I did feel a little disappointed to not see a little more applied to these ports. The menus are a bit barren and bland, and I feel like some unlockable content and unique variations of the titles within could have made it feel a little more special, as a whole. That is just a quick nit-pick and the value for what you are getting is still excellent, but I do think it would have been fantastic to get a more “museum” type experience if we got some history lessons and details of how these games came to be.
Visuals
The visuals work as they should, and I never had any slowdown or stuttering from any port I played. After how many times we have seen this compilation ported I feel that should be expected, but it is still good to see that Namco still insert quality control into even what could be considered a quick port-job. I also want to take a moment to state that it would have been nice to have wallpapers that were more focused on the titles we are actually playing, rather than the generic galaxy background or a bunch of icons from Galaga.
Audio
The audio is also fine, as titles like Pac-Man to Dragon Spirit still have maintained their same melodies and sound effects that are sure to bring out that nostalgia from those looking to visit the past. That also brings up another missed opportunity, as an in-game jukebox would have been awesome to have, and considering most modern compilations do have that feature, I find it a bit odd that Namco have yet to add it in after all of these years.
Overall
Namco Museum Archives: Volume 1 and 2 is yet another worthy compilation that feels right at home on the Switch. That said, with other companies adding more and more fan service to their own collections, getting the “bare bones” treatment here makes this release feel like a cash grab, rather than a true tribute. The games still play great and that is what matters, so those itching to play their favorite Namco romp will be happy with the offerings here, where the portability and value easily make up for any shortcomings.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Darksiders: Warmastered, Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-tered, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. I have no idea who at THQ Nordic is in charge of giving these titles to remastered versions of their games but if anyone from there is reading this right now…..give them a raise! It’s not easy to be creative with these names but someone did it and did it well. Also, that Spongebob game from the list (no way in hell that I’m typing the full title every single time) is slightly different. It is the only game from the list where I haven’t played the original version. It is not a big issue since THQ Nordic has made a name for itself doing some excellent work in remastering older games, so let’s see how this one fares.
Story
The city of Bikini Bottom is in grave danger. Various mechanical robots are wreaking havoc all over it, scaring its resident, and just generally making the whole place pretty undesirable as a tourist destination. All signs point to evil Plankton being behind it (although he vehemently denies it). It’s up to Spongebob, Patrick, and Sandy to save Bikini Bottom and the surrounding areas and maybe treat themselves with some nice Krabby Patty burgers once this is all over.
Gameplay
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated (jeez, what a long title) is a platformer that veers heavily into a class of collectathons. Besides doing some usual quest for the residents of Bikini Bottom (collect a number of these, save a bunch of that), you’ll spend most of your time traversing huge levels and destroying robots. But what is there to collect? A better question would be what isn’t. You have seaweed that you get from destroying enemies and it’s sometimes used to open a new part of a level (remember gems from Spyro 2?), golden underwear, Patrick’s socks, and golden spatulas. Some of those are easy to find, some aren’t, some are given after a boss fight, some after revisiting previous levels with new abilities…….all in all – lots of work to be done here. What’s great about collectibles in this game is that it doesn’t pressure you in finding everything and yet you will still feel the need to do so. It doesn’t throw 10,000 things at you all at once (cough Assassins Creed II cough) and it is accessible to all with a plethora of content, whether we’re talking about collectibles or side quests. Now let’s talk about characters. Spongebob and his buddies have their own unique set of skills and some section of levels can only be completed with Patrick or Sandy. Luckily, there is always a bus stop or two (used for character change) planted through levels.
Visuals
As far as remastering goes, I’m looking at some fine work here. Everything is polished to perfection, upscaled, upgraded, and reworked. Unfortunately, in all that endeavor devs got a little carried away and upgraded some visuals a bit more than it was necessary. I’m not gonna say that the color saturation is off the charts but it will definitely take some time to get used to. Yellow has been remastered to too yellow, green is upgraded to insanely green, and so on. It’s far from obnoxious but you can feel the occasional strain for your eyes, especially after you start the game just after you were playing something else. Other than that, everything else is perfect. No glitchy textures, no popups, no fps drops. The game is as firm and stable as Patrick’s house.
Audio
The game’s voice work is absolutely phenomenal and translates the atmosphere of the show very well. In fact, often you’ll get the feeling you’re watching one, with an added bonus of controlling a few characters. Also, some things will never stop being funny. Hearing Gary saying “meow” for the 100th time will never fail to crack me up. The soundtrack has also received some facelift, but since I’m hearing it for the first time, I can’t compare anything to the original. However, what I can say is that the music complements the setting and atmosphere of the game very well so what you will be listening while you trash robots are some damn jolly tunes – remaster or not.
Overall
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a game that doesn’t go all-in for the nostalgia. It tries to create its own identity and it succeeds. While there are some setbacks to be found, such as cranked up colors and occasional labyrinth-like levels, it is a well polished and fun game. What really sold me on the game is the emphasis on exploration over combat. Sure, the game might be seen as easy as most enemies go down in one or two hits and they rarely pose any threat to you. And yet, kicking them apart never stops being fun. You see, you can’t really remaster fun, no matter how good of a developer you are. It’s either there or it isn’t. And the feeling of fun and awe is something I got to enjoy often while playing SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. In the end, isn’t that all that matters, and isn’t that the foundation of what every good game should be built on? The last time I had had so much fun with a platformer was during my Spyro Reignited Trilogy plays. And that was three games in one! There is just one here and it’s well worth the fun and enjoyment for three.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
SHENZHEN (June 27, 2020) – TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent Games, announced a new partnership with SNK CORPORATION, a leading Japanese game company, to develop a new yet-to-be-named mobile game for the classic arcade franchise Metal Slug.
Originally developed for the beloved Neo-Geo arcade machines and home consoles, Metal Slug and the game’s Peregrine Falcon Squad have been fighting against enemy combatants, aliens and supernatural foes since the series launched in 1996.
“Metal Slug has such an amazing history of great action and gameplay so we’re proud to bring this to mobile gamers around the world,” SNK Game Producer Yasuyuki Oda said. “We’re happy to work closely with such a strong developer as TiMi Studios on this latest Metal Slug title.”
TiMi shared this news as part of Tencent Games Annual Conference, its annual event to share news about the company’s domestic and global game development plans.
“Metal Slug is one of the great arcade franchises and a perfect fit for mobile play,” Winco Qin, general manager of TiMi J1 studio, said. “Our team has been focused on a faithful recreation of the game’s classic shoot’em-up style, easily accessible for players that’s fun for new and existing fans of the genre.”
This partnership follows in the footsteps of TiMi’s global development efforts on Call of Duty: Mobile and Arena of Valor, both of which have reached massive audiences worldwide. TiMi earlier this week announced a new Pokémon game for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices together with The Pokémon Company. TiMi has more than a decade of success making immensely popular games in its domestic market, including the megahits Honor of Kings, Crossfire Mobile: Legends, and Contra: Returns.
About TiMi Studios
TiMi Studios, a subsidiary of Tencent Games, is a leading global video game development team headquartered in Shenzhen, China, with offices in Los Angeles, Shanghai and Chengdu, China. TiMi strives to create high quality, high fidelity and highly accessible games across a wide variety of genres. Founded in 2008, TiMi has developed a string of hit titles including Honor of Kings, Speed Drifters, CrossFire: Legends, Arena of Valor, and Call of Duty: Mobile. To learn more about TiMi, follow us on Twitter @timistudios and Facebook @timistudiosofficial.
About Tencent Games
Tencent Games is the world leading global platform for game development, publishing and operations, as well as the operator of the largest online game community in China. It is dedicated to offering engaging, high-quality, interactive entertainment experiences for all players. Tencent Games currently offers more than 140 self-developed and licensed games across 200 countries and regions, which provides hundreds of millions of users with cross-platform interactive entertainment experiences. Honor of Kings, PUBG MOBILE and League of Legends are some of the most popular titles around the world. We are committed to exploring the full potential of games, leveraging the rich IP resources within Tencent, spanning literature, anime, film, and television, to create high-quality interactive entertainment experiences.
Music has served to bring people together throughout human history and there’s no greater need to come together than now. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment is inviting everyone to join its free livestreamed Asobinotes Online Fes concert which will be held on Sunday, June 28th from 12:00am to 5:00am PDT – *Saturday night’s prime club hopping hours.
Featuring over 30 artists performing a variety of dance music from four floors of the famous Shinkiba Studio Coast building in Tokyo, Japan; this concert aims to provide entertainment to anyone and everyone who loves dance music, video games, and who has been cooped up in their apartments and just needs to dance the night away.
Leaving Early Access featuring a Story Campaign and an Improved Maker Mode
Toronto, Canada – June 26, 2020 – Hot off its heels of a very successful level design competition, Canadian developers Stitch Media announced today during the MonsterVine: Hot Games Summer Showcase that Terrorarium will be launching out of Early Access on Steam next month, July 28.
Currently in Early Access, Terrorarium is a ‘maker game’ where players can build their own levels – aka murder gardens – as a space granny known only as The Gardener. In the full release launching on July 28, Terrorarium will feature a story campaign as we see her obsessive determination with defeating her lifelong nemesis and winning the blue ribbon from the Intergalactic Horrorcultural Society.
The launch version will also feature 200+ community-built levels from those participating in the level design competition earlier this year. “We’re in awe of the sheer skill and talent that has been on display by the Early Access community,” says Adam Bradley, lead designer on Terrorarium “and as a team we can’t wait to see what players will come up with next!”
Other improvements to the game include quality of life, stability, and bug fixes. Murder Gardeners past, present, and future are invited to join the dev team in the Terrorarium Discord Server in the leadup to launch.
Terrorarium is scheduled to release on Steam for Windows July 28, 2020.
About Stitch Media Stitch Media is a games studio that tells stories with new technology. Our projects span web, mobile, games and VR and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our team produced games for over a decade with partners like Disney, Nickelodeon, NBC Universal & Warner Brothers and received awards such as UNESCO’s “Best in Electronic Culture” along with multiple Canadian Screen Awards. See our latest work at http://stitch.media
Wii and Wii U physical editions of Shakedown: Hawaii are coming this summer!
Shakedown: Hawaii will be seeing two new physical releases this summer. A European Wii version, and a North American Wii U version!
Shakedown: Hawaii for Wii will go on sale Thursday, July 9th at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern, 6pm UK time.
It will be priced at $29.99 USD, limited to 3,000 copies, and available directly from Vblank.
Shakedown: Hawaii for Wii U, as well as the upcoming Steam version will go on sale in August. More details on those is still to come!
The Scoop!
Shakedown: Hawaii’s Wii and Wii U versions include all of the currently released content and feature updates, including the Mogul Update, the Full Tank Update, and the many other little tweaks, improvements and optimizations that went into the game post-launch.
Although Wii and Wii U games aren’t region-free, the Wii version does support both 50hz and 60hz, and NTSC and PAL video output. It supports the Wii Remote (with shake!), Wii Classic Controller, Wii Classic Controller Pro, and GameCube Controller. I took special care to ensure it parallels the experience of the more powerful platforms, and further optimized it to fit entirely into the Wii system memory. This means that you won’t experience any disc load times during gameplay. Once the game boots, you’re in!
The Wii U version supports both SD and HD, 4:3 and 16:9. You can play it with the Wii U GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller, Wii Remote, Wii Classic Controller, or Wii Classic Controller Pro. It can be played entirely on the GamePad (with touch!), or on the TV from the comfort of your couch.
Both versions will also allow you to experience the game in the most retro way possible… in 4:3 on your old CRT televisions… and in my opinion, it looks glorious!
