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Seinfeld Adventure might become a game if you believe in it

George: Everybody’s doing something, we’ll do nothing.
Jerry: So, we go into NBC, we tell them we’ve got an idea for a show about nothing.
George: Exactly.
Jerry: They say, “What’s your show about?” I say, “Nothing.”
George: There you go.
Jerry: I think you may have something here.

Jacob Janerka and Ivan Dixon probably weren’t sitting around a coffee shop like Jerry and George when they came up with the idea for a point-and-click adventure game based on Seinfeld, but their version of “The Pitch” sounds equally hilarious.

The two developers are looking to do more than build a mere fangame with Seinfeld Adventure, and so they’ve launched SeinfeldGame.com to pitch the idea directly to co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David:

For a “show about nothing” Seinfeld has a surprisingly rich world. There are so many memorable recurring characters, plot lines and locations as the four protagonists navigate new relationships, jobs and rivals.

The show existed during the time of iconic adventure games such as Monkey Island, Full Throttle, King’s Quest and many more.

Point-and-click adventure games often involve some sort of task or mission that requires a mix of conversational skills, puzzle solving, item collection and use. In Seinfeld, conflict also arises regularly from miscommunication or involves novel items (think episodes like The Pez, The Junior Mint, The Statue, The Calzone, The Fusilli Jerry, The Couch, The Big Salad, etc). All this melds perfectly with the point-and-click formula!

Their “Video Game About Nothing” would give players the chance to control Jerry, George, and Elaine as they live out a brand new episode (“The Email”) that also ropes in Kramer (a “wild card” who “cannot be controlled”), Newman, Kenny Bania, and yet another tale about a young girl’s strange and erotic journey from Milan to Minsk:

Jerry is dating a publicist who accidentally reveals his email address to Kenny Bania through a group email. Now Bania fills Jerry’s inbox with a flurry of spam emails asking for feedback on his new stand-up set. Jerry decides to break up with the publicist over this, but he doesn’t want to deal with the interaction face-to-face. Kramer suggests ending the relationship via email and avoiding it all together. Jerry does this before Elaine reminds him that the publicist was supposed to get them all tickets to the opening night of the new movie “Rochelle, Rochelle 2”. George devises a plan to corrupt Jerry’s girlfriend’s computer before she can read her emails so that they can still collect the tickets. Kramer says he knows who can help. Someone with a sworn vendetta against email. Someone who has devoted their whole life to analogue mail and sees email as a threat to his livelihood. Someone named Newman.

While Jerry’s Mac often sat unused in the corner of his apartment, this certainly sounds like the plot of a long lost episode of Seinfeld. Ideally, Janerka and Dixon would like to include multiple episodes in the game, with each one built around the three-act structure of the show.

But that’s where the rest of us come in. Right now, Seinfeld Adventure is just a website, a short proof-of-concept trailer, and a good idea. While they’ve already rereated Jerry’s apartment and the coffee shop in a wonderfully pixelated style (and perfectly captured the shove accompanying Elaine’s “Get! Out!”), they need the approval of the show’s creators before they can go any further. And they think they might have a better shot if fans share their idea “far and wide.”

I don’t know what’ll happen next, but hopefully it goes better for Janerka and Dixon than it did for Jerry and George.

Posted in News, PC |

Grounded will be available in Early Access on July 28

Microsoft and Obsidian are continuing to play up the similarities between the upcoming Grounded and Disney’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids in the game’s latest trailer.

Delving slightly deeper into the mysteries of the game’s shrinking technology, this Story Trailer introduces prospective players to BURG.L, a robot that will help you navigate the treacherous backyard arena:

In Grounded, you wake up in a suburban backyard, shrunk to the size of an ant. You hear the voice of a mysterious robot named BURG.L. He seems to know what’s going on and lets you know that the machine to turn you back to normal size is currently out of order. For now, everything in the backyard is trying to kill you and it’s up to you – and up to three friends, if you’re playing co-operative multiplayer – to survive the perilous landscape.

The short clip also includes several thrilling battles between ants, bees, and spiders, as well as a glimpse at some of the crafting and building options that Grounded will have.

Grounded will be available to download as an Early Access/Game Preview title for the PC and Xbox One on July 28.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged

The DualShock is dead as Sony unveils brand new DualSense controller for PS5

Sony has flirted with discontinuing the venerable DualShock line of controllers before, most notably when the PS3 made its public debut alongside the “Boomerang” controller. But despite occasionally stepping towards the road not taken, the consolemaker has always turned back towards the DualShock design.

But there’s a first time for everything, so say hello to the DualSense, the official controller for the PS5.

Tossing aside the DualShock design for something that should look more familiar to Xbox One players, the DualSense has been rebuilt to feature adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and a two-tone color scheme:

After thoughtful consideration, we decided to keep much of what gamers love about DualShock 4 intact, while also adding new functionality and refining the design. Based on our discussions with developers, we concluded that the sense of touch within gameplay, much like audio, hasn’t been a big focus for many games. We had a great opportunity with PS5 to innovate by offering game creators the ability to explore how they can heighten that feeling of immersion through our new controller. This is why we adopted haptic feedback, which adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud. We also incorporated adaptive triggers into the L2 and R2 buttons of DualSense so you can truly feel the tension of your actions, like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow.

This provided us with an exciting challenge to design a new controller that builds off of the current generation, while taking into account the new features we were adding. For example, with adaptive triggers, we had to consider how the components would fit into the hardware, without giving it a bulky feeling. Our design team worked closely with our hardware engineers to place the triggers and actuators. The designers were then able to draw the lines of how the exterior of the controller would look and feel, with a challenge of making the controller feel smaller than it really looks. In the end, we changed the angle of the hand triggers and also made some subtle updates to the grip. We also took thoughtful consideration into ways to maintain a strong battery life for DualSense’s rechargeable battery, and to lessen the weight of the controller as much as possible as new features were added.

Slightly less noticeable is the repositioned Light Bar (it now sits under the Touchpad on the front of the controller) and the renamed Share button (the three lines symbolize that it’s the Create button now).

You can learn more about the DualSense controller at the PlayStation Blog.

Posted in News, PS5 |

HyperParasite is an 80s-set overhead shooter where you play as a body-snatching alien

If cinema has taught us anything, it’s that the body-snatching alien is always the bad guy. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about John Carpenter’s The Thing, Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty, or dozens of other films, the slimy alien must be destroyed.

But what if we’re all wrong? What if this body snatcher is actually just fighting to survive? That’s the premise behind Troglobytes Games’s HyperParasite, an overhead shooter that drops an alien who can jump bodies into a punk-infused version of the 1980s.

In addition to giving the President an eye patch, HyperParasite will feature more than 60 playable characters, as well as a procedurally-generated world spread out over five Acts:

A rogue-lite twin-stick shooter/brawler that never plays the same twice. Collect and control 60 different characters as the body-snatching alien Parasite with a grudge against humanity. Fight to the top of the food chain: possess the President, push the Big Red Button and one-up the human race.

OK, so the Parasite doesn’t exactly sound like a good guy, but it is the star of HyperParasite, which is now available to download for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. And you can sneak a peek at its neon-infused visuals in the brand new Launch Trailer embedded above.

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

Viz Media will publish Super Mario Bros. Manga Mania compilation in Late 2020

Viz Media and Nintendo are teaming up to release the Super Mario-Kun manga series in the US for the first time.

Published in Japan’s CoroCoro Comics magazine since 1991, Super Mario-Kun will make its stateside debut as part of Super Mario Bros. Manga Mania, a 160-page compilation of “handpicked” story arcs from throughout its 30-year run:

Experience the zany world of Super Mario Bros. through manga!

Join Mario and pals in crazy adventures inspired by the hit video games! This collection of short stories showcases the fan-favorite characters of the Super Mario Bros. world in new, unconventional and hilarious ways. Handpicked from years of Mario comics in Japan, this compilation has never been available in English—until now!

Writing on Twitter, a spokesperson for Viz Media said that Super Mario Bros. Manga Mania would be available in Late 2020.

Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro | Tagged

The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR have been delayed indefinitely

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II was already hit with a pretty significant delay once before (it was moved from February to May late last year), but now it’s been delayed again.

This time, publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment announced (via Twitter) that the game won’t be available as planned, and no new release date will be announced for the time being because “the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.”

A followup message from Naughty Dog (also posted to Twitter) elaborated somewhat on Sony’s decision, stating that the delay is due to “logistics beyond our control.”

While neither entity is being particularly straightforward, the likeliest explanation is that coronavirus-fueled shipping disruptions and store closures have made it impossible to predict when enough copies of The Last of Us Part II can be delivered to meet the sure-to-be-massive demand.

In the same announcement, Sony confirmed that the slightly-lower-profile Iron Man VR will also miss its previously-announced Launch date of May 15. Like The Last of Us Part II, it too has been delayed indefinitely.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

The Outer Worlds is coming to the Switch on June 5

The Switch debut of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds was one of the first games whose development was disrupted by the pandemic currently gripping the globe. Publisher Private Division had recruited Virtuous to bring the game to Nintendo’s console, but back in February, they temporarily shut down operations to protect their employees from possible exposure.

That brings us to today, and Obsidian has announced (via their official website) that The Outer Worlds will be released for the Switch on June 5:

We wanted to share an exciting update that we plan on launching The Outer Worlds for the Nintendo Switch on June 5th, 2020. As we prepare for another arrival of new colonists, we have some very important information for those making this journey, specifically for you colonists who prefer your goods in physical form: The retail version The Outer Worlds comes on a physical cartridge, and it will be accompanied by a day one patch that could be up to 6 GB. This patch will optimize gameplay, provide additional hi-res textures, and include other fixes to provide the employees of Halcyon with the best gameplay experience. Please ensure you have planned accordingly and have available space necessary for the patch.

In the same announcement, it appears that players who opt to purchase the Retail Edition of The Outer Worlds will need to download an additional patch to optimize the game on the Switch.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is now available to download for the PS4

Chatter about the looming launch of the heavily-rumored Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered has been steadily making its way around the Internet this past week. Originally released in 2009, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the franchise’s most-celebrated entries, so fans were decidedly excited about the news.

So rather than make them wait any longer, Activision pulled the trigger this morning and announced that Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is now available to download for the PS4. PC and Xbox One owners will get their chance to begin playing the re-release on April 30.

Developed by Beenox, fans can now experience Modern Warfare 2’s Campaign with some very modern graphical upgrades, including support for HDR and up to 4K resolution:

Published by Activision, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered features improved texture resolution and detail, revamped animation, remastered audio, and much more.

In this famed experience, originally developed by Infinity Ward and now re-mastered by Beenox, players enlist as members of Task Force 141 and Tier 1 Operatives in a breathtaking series of missions to save the world from destruction. “Cliffhanger,” “Takedown, “No Russian,” and more all return in this intense story experience.

“Modern Warfare 2 campaign was incredible. We all remember the lasting impression the story left upon us. This campaign was very special and we thank Infinity Ward for creating such an amazing experience,” said Thomas Wilson, the Co-Studio Head at Beenox. “Restoring and remastering this campaign for a new generation of players was a labor of love for our team. We wanted to make sure that the feelings and power of the story was accurately represented with full high-definition visuals and the latest audio fidelity.”

A Launch Trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered has been embedded above.

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