WayForward has announced that Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is ready to go, or as they put it “Ret-2-Go!,” and that it will be released digitally for the PlayStation 4, PS Vita, PC through Steam, Xbox One, and Wii U on December 20th. It is worth noting that the company did say that they are still waiting on final confirmation from Nintendo about the Wii U version arriving on that date.
WayForward also statedthat they are going to be distributing codes to backers starting next week and if you have backed the game to keep an eye on your registered email address for the code. The codes are set to activate on December 12th and will not be available before then but if your code still isn’t working by the 13th then you should contact the company for support.
XSEED Games, who is handling the retail release of the PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and Wii U versions of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero have not yet announced when they plan on releasing the physical edition to stores.
Capcom surprised many with the surprise release of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 users and though Xbox One and PC users will need to wait until March to get the title digitally, an apparent retail release will also be happening that month.
A pair of listings have appeared on GameStop’s website listing Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 retail releases for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with the release costing $29.99 stating that they will only be available at GameStop. Currently Capcom has not officially confirmed these plans though we have reached out to the company for more information.
Acquire has released forty six minutes of direct gameplay footage from Akiba’s Beat that was previously recorded during a stream of the game that was held on October 12th. This footage comes as the company plans on holding another live stream tonight through NicoNico to celebrate the PlayStation 4 version of Akiba’s Beat being released in Japan next week.
You can check out the gameplay footage below while the game itself is set to be released in Japan on December 15th for the PlayStation 4 and eventually for the PS Vita and the Western release from XSEED Games arriving sometime in Q1 2017 for both platforms.
Blizzard announced through Twitter that they are planning on kicking off a new holiday event for Overwatch starting on December 13th. In Christmas card fashion the announcement came as a card saying “It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we hope you’ll join us for some holiday cheer!”
Blizzard did not reveal any details about what to actually expect from this event though this marks the third major event for the game since it was released and similar to these past events there will likely be another batch of new Christmas themed unlockables, special loot boxes, and if the Halloween event is anything to go by, maybe even a new temporary game mode.
STREET FIGHTER TOURNAMENT
Every Street Fighter player knows it: HANDSOME FIGHTERS NEVER LOSE BATTLES…
Australia’s largest Street Fighter video game tournament comes to BINGEFEST, the Sydney Opera House’s new 24-hour festival on Sunday 18 December. The game masters of pro fighter collective OzHadou will set up their joysticks in the Joan Sutherland Northern Foyer, free to the public. Casual players can settle into open heats and enjoy a friendly match on PlayStation 4 consoles and Samsung Quantum dot SUHD TVs, and the final eight will spar on the big screen in a grand finale death match overlooking Sydney Harbour.
Register in the Joan Sutherland Theatre Northern Foyer on Sunday 18 December from 9.00am – 4.00pm. Tournament starts 4.00pm. SAMSUNG AND AIRBNB AT BINGEFEST
BINGEFEST Event Partner Airbnb will be handing out free cereal on Sunday from 5.30 – 7.00am after the Buffy Binge-a-thon in the Western Foyer, telling the story of how two designers seed-funded the company by selling novelty cereal boxes.
Sydney Opera House Principal Partner Samsung will also be on-site to celebrate the art of bingeing, pop culture, gaming and the internet with special guests.
For those who need to escape the heat and the ‘sonic boom’:
Insta-famous Redfern Convenience Store will be supplying snacks all night.
Artists Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner present a new participatory performance artwork, which will take place over two successive nights, from midnight until 6am, and 10pm until 6am.
“The Writers’ Room” will be a rare behind-the-screen foray by some of the best brains creating great television around the world, featuring Josh Thomas (Please Like Me), Dan Harmon (Community / Rick and Morty), Celia Pacquola (Utopia, The Beautiful Lie) and Luke McGregor (Utopia, It’s A Date, Rosehaven).
“All The TV You Should Have Watched By Now” will give audiences the chance to get up-to-date recommendations on the best of television, presented by American pop culture experts and obsessives, The AV Club. The AV Club will also host a binge-watching night celebrating the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the Buffy Binge-a-thon, exploring how Buffy changed television for the better.
Creator of Serial, the spin-off of pioneering podcast This American Life, Julie Snyder, will discuss “Binge-worthy Journalism.” The first season of Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig, followed the story of Adnan Syed – who was found guilty of his ex-girlfriend’s murder in 2000 – through the twists and turns of trials and mistrials. Serial not only revolutionised episodic audio narrative forms and earned itself a Peabody Award in 2015, it has led to a retrial of what is now an infamous case.
Jad Abumrad is the co-creator and host of award-winning public radio program and podcast Radiolab, a show that celebrates curiosity, illuminates ideas, and blurs the boundaries between science, philosophy and human experience. At BINGEFEST, Abumrad – a composer and ‘certified genius’ according to the Macarthur Foundation – will discuss how the visceral, negative feeling of “Gut Churn” can help propel artists forward in their work.
BINGEFEST is the latest in a string of festivals that have helped map and shift our collective culture over the last decade, from Vivid LIVE, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas and GRAPHIC to All About Women.
For more infomation visit: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/bingefest
Free Expansion for The Climb Out Now – Featuring Oculus Touch Support and New “North” Setting
Get to grips with the Oculus Touch motion controllers and a spectacular new environment in Crytek’s VR free solo rock climbing game
Frankfurt am Main (Germany) December 6, 2016 – Today sees the arrival of an expansive free update for Crytek’s VR rock climbing game, The Climb – with Oculus Touch support, a vast new setting, and more being added to the experience.
For the first time, players everywhere can experience the thrill of scaling VR cliff faces inThe Climb with intuitive hand movements, thanks to the integration of Oculus Touch. Gamers will stretch for grips, slip into a climbing rhythm, and feel like they’re really swinging across monkey bars as they race to top the new Oculus Touch leaderboards and tackle all of the game’s existing modes and levels.
Today’s update also adds the new “North” setting – a stunning new game environment inspired by the Arctic Circle and surrounding areas such as Iceland. The immersive power of Oculus Rift brings the wintry location to life, with players scaling vertigo-inducing heights against a backdrop of icy seas, snowy mountains, and a huge active volcano.
From today until December 31, The Climb will also be available as part of an Oculus Touch Launch Bundle. The bundle features five Oculus Rift games at a discounted price of $89.99, giving gamers the chance to sample the game-changing capabilities of Oculus Touch for less.
The Climb is available separately or as part of the Touch Launch Bundle now from the Oculus Home store. Take a closer look at what’s new in the latest game update in a launch trailer athttps://youtu.be/a5hB-9bhLkI, and read developer insights into the expansion atwww.theclimbgame.com .
About Crytek
Crytek is an independent videogame developer, publisher, and technology provider dedicated to pushing the boundaries of gaming with its cutting-edge 3D game development platform CRYENGINE. With headquarters in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and studios in Kiev (Ukraine), Budapest (Hungary), Sofia (Bulgaria), Seoul (South Korea), Shanghai (China), and Istanbul (Turkey), Crytek has created multiple award-winning titles, including the original Far Cry, the Crysis series, Ryse: Son of Rome, Warface, and The Climb. Crytek delivers fun and innovative gaming experiences for PC, consoles, and VR and continues to grow its reach in the games-as-a-service market. Every Crytek game is created with CRYENGINE, which can be used by anyone to create games on a Pay What You Want business model.
Pokémon European International Championships: Final Call for Early Registration
The inaugural International Championships event occurs this Friday, marking the opening milestone of an all-new Play! Pokémon competitive season
London, UK—6 December 2016—The Pokémon Company International have today released a promotional video of the previous Play! Pokémon season, which culminated with the Pokémon World Championships held in San Francisco, California, in August 2016. In addition to providing a retrospective of that tournament, the video looks forward to the new season, challenging players to compete with the newly released Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon video games for the very first time at a major event. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/AXoVlKxKzBs.
The Pokémon European International Championships, to be held at the ExCeL Exhibition Center in London from 9–11 December 2016, is the first in a series of large tournaments that will take place around the globe. Players in good standing with the Play! Pokémon program, who have a valid Player ID, are encouraged to read information about fees and conditions to entry before registering athttps://tpciprereg.appspot.com/. The event will also be the first time the World Record Breaking Pokémon TCG mosaic will go on display in United Kingdom.
The ongoing series will feature more amazing events that will provide high Championship Point payouts (comparable to previous years’ National Championships) and a prize pool value of up to $250,000 per event (based on attendance), spread between the Pokémon Trading Card Game and video game competitions. New players interested in competing in the 2017 Pokémon Championship Series will need to create a free Pokémon Trainer Club account at Pokemon.co.uk. For those interested in watching Pokémon competitive events from home, select tournaments will be streamed live atwww.twitch.tv/pokemontcg_eu and www.twitch.tv/pokemonvgc_eu . Streaming dates and times will be announced soon.
Atlus USA has released three new trailers for Persona 5 with this group of trailers introducing the first set of Confidants that players will build and maintain relationships with in the game. This includes party members and various people around Tokyo that will help unlock special skill bonuses, useful services, and more. The three characters introduced this time are Tae Takemi, Sojiro Sakura, and Munehisa Iwai and you can read their intros and check out the videos below.
Tae Takemi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5v3vW3MKUg
If you’re feeling under the weather, you may want to stop by Tae Takemi’s medical clinic. Even though it’s located in a shady alley, her clinic is THE place to treat any injuries sustained during Phantom Thieving. Helping Tae with her “experiments” unlocks stronger health potions and consumables that can help turn the tide during fights. Yes, she may have a dubious reputation, but who else are you going to rely on for medicinal needs?
Sojiro Sakura
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-_YRMpV4FQ
After the protagonist is given a second chance in Tokyo, he’s reluctantly taken in by Cafe Leblanc owner Sojiro Sakura and temporarily calls the attic of the café his home. If the protagonist chooses to help run the café throughout the game, Sojiro will teach him various coffee and curry recipes. How does that help the Phantom Thieves, you ask? Well, crafted coffee and curry can be consumed during dungeon crawls to restore SP. That’s pretty important, so be sure to stay on Sojiro’s sweet side in order to get those recipes! Oh, and he’ll also drop some fun facts about coffee here and there if you’re into that sort of thing.
Munehisa Iwai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek9uofQBvs8
This frightening looking individual is the proprietor of Tokyo’s finest airsoft gun shop called Untouchable. Since the Phantom Thieves need to arm themselves against all types of enemies, you can see why keeping a man like Munehisa close is important. Helping him out will unlock a wider selection of wares, discounts, and even an option to customize certain airsoft guns! If you’re a gun nut, you definitely want to stay in this guy’s good graces.
Marvelous has revealed some new information, artwork, and screenshots for Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash. This time around the girls that are being introduced are the familiar faces of Gessen Girls Academy as well as two “brand new” characters that will serve as moderators in the Peach Beach Splash tournament. The new characters are Mr. K who is a masked man that speaks in dubious English and makes flashy gestures and Miss R is a sunglass-wearing lady that makes shameless remarks at the young girls and gets jealous easily.
Also detailed is Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash‘s Locker Room that allows players to once again dress up the characters in their favorite outfits, change their hair styles, and pose them in various ways to take pictures. One new element about the costumes is that certain ones will begin to turn transparent as they get wet with the wetter it gets, the more the player will be able to see through it.
Finally the company revealed that there will be five basic types of water guns all of which have various shooting styles, with an assault rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher that shoots water balloons, a rocket launcher, and a gatling gun. You can check out these images below and keep an eye out for the game itself when it is eventually released in the West and released in Japan on March 16th for the PlayStation 4.
Spike Chunsoft has released another new trailer for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and this time around the characters that are being introduced is the Ultimate Anthropologist Korekiyo Shinguuji who is a boy that has visited numerous places for the sake of his research and believes that there is infinite beauty in humans. Since everyone is trapped with him, he takes great interest in seeing just how the rest of the students will react under such conditions.
Another character introduced is the Ultimate Akido Master Tenko Chabashira who has invented a new style with her master and is known as a severe man hater who is extremely humbled whenever she is praised by a girl but will throw any man who tries to touch her. The Ultimate maid Kirumi Toujo has built up a reputation of being able to complete any request in an overly perfect manner and has even worked as a body guard for the leaders of various nations in the past. Wither her creed being one of selfless devotion she often voluntarily does chores for the rest of the students during their time in confinement.
The last character introduced in this video is the Ultimate Caregiver Maki Harukawa who didn’t choose her path of life on her own and simply grew up in an orphanage and was made to help others. Oddly enough, she is not really good at taking care of or talking to others but she is always liked by children.
You can check out the full introduction video below while the game itself is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in Japan on January 12th and has already been confirmed for Western release sometime in 2017.
