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Knight Squad 2 will bring its brand of medieval mayhem back to PC, Xbox One this Fall
Chainsawesome Games is heading back into the multiplayer arena later this year, as they’ve announced plans to launch Knight Squad 2 this Fall for the PC and Xbox One (it’ll also be playable on the Xbox Series X via backwards compatibility).
Once again featuring a style very similar to Bomberman, Knight Squad 2 will embrace the wackiness of its premise with a medieval arsenal that includes swords and crossbows, as well as bazookas, laser pistols, and ghosts. The final package will feautre more than 13 competitive modes, including a few returning favorites (“Capture the Flag” and “Soccer”) and several new experiences (“Payload” and “Minion Master”):
Join the fray with up to eight players and duke it out across more than 13 competitive modes. Fight to become the last one standing in free-for-all events such as Battle Royale or squad up to take on all comers in old favorites like Capture the Flag and new game types including Payload, which sees teams clash in an explosive tug of war to deliver powder kegs to the enemy base, and Minion Master, where rivals raise armies to besiege and topple opposing fortresses.
No matter the arena, the knights always wield a wild arsenal of weapons and powerups, ranging from traditional medieval arms to more absurd ones like ghosts, land mines, and laser guns. Knight Squad 2’s over-the-top action brings a signature element to the table, transforming even the likes of Soccer into a full
contactcombat sport and emblazoning an element of turbulent fun onto an accessible, simple-to-understand experience that brings people together.
The first trailer for Knight Squad 2 has been embedded above.
World Video Game Hall of Fame welcomes its Class of 2020: Minecraft, Bejeweled, Centipede, and King’s Quest
After selling more than 200 million copies over the last decade, it’s hard to remember a time when Minecraft wasn’t nearly synonymous with the entire medium of video games. And though it was only available in an unfinished form from 2009 to 2011, it seemed to emerge from Mojang’s offices as a fully-formed phenomenon even in its earliest days.
So as players continued to flock to its Lego-like world in droves, it was a bit of a shock when the game was denied entry into the World Video Game Hall of Fame three separate times. Shortlisted as a finalist in 2015, 2016, and 2018, the title was passed over again and again and again. But Minecraft’s creative sandbox become too big to ignore this year, and it has finally been enshrined among gaming’s greats.
In a stunning upset, three unlikely candidates also garnered enough support from the Hall of Fame’s Selection Advisory Committee to join the Class of 2020. A genre-defining match-3 puzzler from PopCap (Bejeweled), a classic coin-op from Atari (Centipede), and one of earliest adventure titles from Sierra (King’s Quest) won out over more popular titles such as NBA Jam, GoldenEye 007, and Guitar Hero.
While this year’s class might look a little surprising, historians working at the Hall of Fame’s parent organizations, the Strong Museum and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, helped put their importance into perspective. (more…)
Resident Evil Village brings back Chris Redfield and Ethan Winters in 2021
Capcom has always had a strong connection to the PlayStation brand, and the publisher used Sony’s Future of Gaming event to unveil the next mainline entry in the Resident Evil franchise.
Resident Evil Village (stylized in some promotional material as, and I’m not making this up, Resident Evil VIllAGE) will serve as a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Utilizing a first-person perspective, Ethan Winters will return as the playable protagonist, and a hulking Chris Redfield is back in the fray as well. Chris is possibly the villain of the piece as he appears to by murder Ethan’s wife in the closing seconds of the Announcement Trailer.
Here’s what the Capcom-Unity blog had to say about Resident Evil Village:
Taking place a few years after the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7 biohazard, Ethan Winters and his wife, Mia, seem to have finally found peace after the horrifying events they endured at the Baker family’s plantation house. Despite putting the past behind them, a surprising yet familiar face returns in the form of Chris Redfield… whose shocking actions ultimately cause Ethan to end up in a mysterious, snow-covered village.
Unlike the claustrophobic hallways of the Baker mansion, Resident Evil Village provides a different kind of terror: The fear of the unknown. Each encounter is another fight for survival, with a first-person perspective making things that much more personal as you chart unknown territory. There’s much more to the village than what you see on the surface.
Resident Evil Village is currently in development for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X… though fans are in for a bit of a wait as the game is set to launch sometime in 2021. But that just means you’ve got plenty of time to pore over that Announcement Trailer for more clues.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is unsurprisingly the best-selling game of April 2020
The public has been anxiously awaiting the launch of Final Fantasy VII Remake ever since it was first announced all the way back in 2015. Well, it finally arrived on store shelves last month, and fans eagerly emptied their wallets to return to the world of Midgar.
According to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella (via Twitter), Final Fantasy VII Remake was far and away the best-selling game in April 2020. The game’s exceptional sales also pushed it to become the biggest launch in Final Fantasy franchise history.
Strong sales across the board for software ($662 million), hardware ($420 million), and accessories ($384 million) were recorded by The NPD Group. Added together, the video game industry racked up revenues of $1.467 billion last month, a whopping 73% increase over April 2019. The total also surpassed April 2008’s previous record of $1.2 billion.
An expanded list of April 2020’s best-selling games (featuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Resident Evil 3, and many others) can be found after the break. (more…)
PGA Tour 2K21 tees off this August from 2K Games and HB Studios
2K Games and HB Studios are continuing their partnership with the PGA Tour this Summer as the next game in The Golf Club franchise has morphed into PGA Tour 2K21.
Referred to as an “evolution” of the franchise by 2K and HB, PGA Tour 2K21 will feature pro golfer Justin Thomas on the cover, as well as 15 licensed PGA Tour courses, and a Course Designer mode to expand that number when you need a new challenge:
Thomas will be joined by 11 additional PGA Tour pros, each of whom will present a challenge to players in PGA Tour Career Mode as they compete to become a FedEx Cup Champion. Players can also create and personalize their MyPlayer with equipment and apparel from licensed brands including adidas, Polo Ralph Lauren, Malbon Golf, Callaway Golf, Bridgestone Golf, TaylorMade Golf, and more.
Capping off the simulation experience, PGA Tour 2K21 will feature a broadcast-style presentation with state-of-the-art graphics, dynamic cutscenes and a seamless replay system, all anchored by the play-by-play commentary of renowned broadcaster Luke Elvy and analyst Rich Beem.
In addition to its many single-player options, PGA Tour 2K21 will also include local and online multiplayer modes, including Alt-Shot, Stroke Play, Skins, and 4-Player Scramble.
PGA Tour 2K21 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Stadia on August 21. A very unexpected Announcement Trailer for the game has been embedded above.
Scorn is a Gigeresque nightmare… and an Xbox Series X exclusive at launch
Microsoft began rolling out some of the third-party support they’ve lined up for the Xbox Series X earlier today, and Ebb Software’s Scorn has certainly slithered its way to the front with haunting imagery reminiscent of H.R. Giger’s designs for the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.
Featuring statues that cry entrails and a lot of bodily fluids, the new trailer for Scorn is a wild ride into an utterly alien world. But I think it’s best to let the developers themselves fill you in on how they plan to unsettle players with their “nightmare” vision:
Scorn lures players into a claustrophobic underworld populated with misshapen organic forms dripping with unnamed fluids. You will find yourself entirely alone, with only your senses and instincts to guide you through the non-linear nightmare of interconnected spaces. In Scorn, the environment is itself a character, and will do its best to unsettle and unbalance you. Each location has its own puzzles, characters, and story to tell, all of which combine to create a cohesive world. On your journey through the game, new areas, skills, weapons, and items will be unveiled as you attempt to comprehend the unfolding reality of Scorn.
Kowloon Nights, an investment fund for independent developers, is providing support for Scorn, and Community Manager Danika Harrod expanded on Ebb’s influences on the Xbox Wire:
Scorn is a first-person horror adventure game designed around the idea of being thrown into the world. As players explore the dream-like world in a non-linear fashion, they will soon learn that every location has its own story, puzzles, and characters – even the unsettling environment is a character itself. The team has drawn visual inspiration from Swiss painter H.R. Giger and Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski. Conceptual inspiration has come from works by unique writers like Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges, horror and sci-fi writers like Thomas Ligotti and J.G. Ballard, and the weird cinema of David Cronenberg and David Lynch.
Scorn will be released for the Xbox Series X during the console’s “launch period” this Fall, and it’s also in the works for the PC through Steam and the Windows Store.
It’s raining Bells as Animal Crossing: New Horizons becomes the best-selling game of March 2020
Multiple states attempted to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic throughout the month of March by shutting down non-essential businesses, and The NPD Group’s recent report (via Twitter) about the month’s best-selling games absolutely reflects this strange new world.
Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, without the benefit of digital sales (the consolemaker doesn’t supply them to NPD), was the best-selling game of March 2020. According to analyst Mat Piscatella (also via Twitter), it’s impressive debut has already set a new sales record for the franchise, and it trails only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for best first month sales by a Nintendo-published title.
The game also helped sell a lot of people on the Switch, as Nintendo sold more Switch consoles in March of 2020 than they did when the system launched in March of 2017.
With gamers doing their part and staying home, the entire industry surged ahead alongside Tom Nook, Isabelle, K.K. Slider, and the rest of the Animal Crossing crew. Total game sales were up 34% over March 2019 ($739 million vs $550 million), while total hardware sales rose 63% ($461 million vs $282 million).
And Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn’t the only new release that’s popular with players right now. MLB The Show 20 (#3), Resident Evil 3 (#4), Doom Eternal (#6), and Persona 5 Royal (#7) all debuted in the Top Ten. Looking further down the list, new games such as Nioh 2 (#11), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (#15), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered (#20) all snuck into the Top 20.
You can find a complete breakdown of The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games from March 2020 after the break. (more…)
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.