Most Recent: PS4
New Retail Releases: Super Mario Maker 2, Judgment, F1 2019, More
Are we in a Summer games drought? Not if Nintendo and a few other publishers have anything to say about it.
This week, Nintendo will bring Super Mario Maker 2 to stores for the Switch. The course-creation sequel will add a full Story Mode, as well as a huge number of new creation tools, and a new game style based on Super Mario 3D World.
Also set to launch this week is Sega’s Judgment, a spinoff to the Yakuza franchise that’ll launch exclusively for the PS4. In Judgment, players will investigate the seedy Red Light District of Kamurocho in “the dramatic tale of a disgraced lawyer seeking redemption in a world rife with corruption and despair.”
Elsewhere on store shelves this week, gamers will be able to check out F1 2019 (PS4, Xbox One), latest racing simulation from Codemasters; The Sinking City (PS4, Xbox One), a Lovecraftian mystery from Frogwares; and Samurai Shodown (PS4, Xbox One), a rebooted new entry in SNK’s Samurai Shodown franchise.
And for RPG fans, Idea Factory will bring back the Neptunia series with Super Neptunia RPG for the PS4 and Switch.
A complete list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Blazing Chrome will be released on July 11
JoyMasher has been working on Blazing Chrome, their retro-styled homage to Contra and Metal Slug, for a few years now. But the Brazilian developer has finally confirmed, alongside publisher The Arcade Crew, that the game will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on July 11.
With just a few weeks to go before Blazing Chrome’s launch, JoyMasher unveiled a new trailer today that gives prospective players a peek at a pair of hidden characters:
JoyMasher’s Blazing Chrome harkens back to the golden days of side-scrolling shooters with modern touches ensuring its gameplay feels as precise as it does authentic to the era it channels. Fans who unlock the new characters within the game will be treated to fast-paced, side-scrolling and vertical gameplay action as Suhaila, a razor girl with a robotic arm or the skilled and deadly ninja Raijin you try to out-fire, out-maneuver, and out-wit your various metal-encased AI enemies.
JoyMasher has also partnered with Limited Run Games to produce a physical edition for Blazing Chrome. It’ll be available to pre-order sometime this year for the PS4 and Switch.
NHL 20 launches September 13 with Auston Matthews on the cover
EA Sports has announced they’ll drop the puck on NHL 20 for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 13. The latest edition of the hockey simulation will feature Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the cover and a big emphasis on new shot types.
NHL 20 will also hop on the battle royale bandwagon with Eliminator Mode, which lets takes the popular NHL Ones and NHL Threes modes and lets up to 82 players compete against each other in a “survival tournament bracket.” Other new additions coming to the franchise are expanded options for Ultimate Team and World of CHEL, as well as improved goaltender AI, and a brand new broadcast-style presentation:
In NHL 20, your favorite NHL stars now look and feel more authentic with new Signature Shots and over 45 new shot types that make every attack a threat. A new broadcast package celebrates your biggest plays as you take on all-new game modes, including the new winner-take-all Eliminator Mode where you play solo or team up with friends to take down the competition.
More details about the new features coming to NHL 20 can be found at the game’s official website and an Announcement Trailer has been embedded above.
Sony adds Horizon: Zero Dawn, Resident Evil 7, Friday the 13th, more to PlayStation Hits line
With the PS5 on the horizon and this year’s E3 Expo in the rearview mirror, now’s the perfect time for Sony to add a new batch of games to their PlayStation Hits line of budget titles for the PS4.
All games in the PlayStation Hits line are priced at a very wallet-friendly $19.99, and five new titles will be added on June 28, including Friday the 13th, God of War III Remastered, Horizon: Zero Dawn – Complete Edition, Nioh, and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. In case you missed it, five other games recently became part of the PlayStation Hits line in a Spring update that included Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Lego Jurassic World, Mad Max, Persona 5, and Star Wars: Battlefront.
More than 40 games have become PlayStation Hits since the lineup’s distinctive red label launched last Summer. And if you’re interested, you can find a complete rundown of the entire collection over at the PlayStation Blog.
Mortal Kombat 11 wins back-to-back rounds as the best-selling game of May 2019
Analyst Mat Piscatella came out of hibernation last night to share a look (via Twitter) at The NPD Group’s report on the best-selling games from May 2019. Once again, NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat 11 landed on the top of the list, and it’s now the best-selling game for all of 2019.
Days Gone managed to hold its position as the runner-up for the month of May, fighting off PC-exclusive Total War: Three Kingdoms (which proved popular enough to slide into the #3 spot) and fellow new release Rage 2 (#4). Perennial favorite Grand Theft Auto V rounded out the Top 5 in the #5 slot.
This year’s most popular titles played musical chairs throughout the remainder of last month’s Top 20. Some went up (Minecraft went from #14 to #9) while some were trending down (Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 dropped from #4 to #12).
The Switch was the best-selling console platform in May and as the PS4 and Xbox One continue to ride off into the sunset, it’s also remained the best-selling for the 2019 calendar year.
Overall, total industry sales were done 11% versus May 2018, but that can probably be chalked up to a paltry selection of new releases last month. You can find a full list of best-selling games from May 2019 after the break. (more…)
Konami surprise-launches Contra Anniversary Collection at E3 2019
In addition to unveiling Contra: Rogue Corps during today’s Nintendo Direct presentation, Konami has surprise-launched the Contra Anniversary Collection for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Like Konami’s previous 50th Anniversary Collections, the Contra Anniversary Collection will include a digital book detailing the history of the series, as well as seven games (Contra [Arcade], Contra [NES], Super Contra, Super C, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Contra: Hard Corps, and Operation C). Three regional variants (Contra [Japan], Probotector [Europe], and Super Probotector [Europe]) will also be included.
A post-launch update to the compilation will add six more Japanese variants at a later date.
But for now, be sure to relive some of the greatest action games of the 80s and 90s with Contra Anniversary Collection’s Launch Trailer, which has been embedded above.
Konami brings the Contra franchise back this September with Contra: Rogue Corps
Start flexing those “Up, Up, Down, Down” muscles, because Konami has announced that Contra: Rogue Corps will be available this Fall.
Eschewing the franchise’s traditional side-scrolling view, Contra: Rogue Corps is an overhead twin-stick shooter that takes place in Damned City, a place that was decimated by the alien invasion from the previous games and is now full of monsters and mutants:
Two years after the Alien Wars had ended, a mysterious area called the Damned City arose from the grounds where the final battles took place. Ruthless Fiends roamed the area, bringing a world full of madness. In the midst of chaos, five scoundrels emerge… they are the Rogue Corps.
They do not look anything like heroes of justice, but have they come to save humanity, or maybe they are looking to hit the jackpot by searching the Damned City for treasures… either way, the fate of the world is in their hands.
While the view might be a bit different from what fans are used to, the people behind the project will be the same, as Konami has tapped Nobuya Nakazato (the Director of Contra III: The Alien Wars, Contra: Hard Corps, and Contra: Shattered Soldier) to lead the development team. Rogue Corps will also feature multiple playable characters who can be customized with improved organs and cybernetics in the Operation Room, local and online cooperative multiplayer, and an “irreverent” tone (which is pretty obvious from the first trailer).
Contra: Rogue Corps is currently in development for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, and it’ll be released on September 24.
Square Enix will remake third Secret of Mana game as Trials of Mana
After more than 20 years, Square Enix is finally bringing a localized version of the third game in the Secret of Mana franchise to North America as part of the Collection of Mana. But the publisher also used this year’s E3 Expo to announce that a full remake of Seiken Densetsu 3 is also in the works.
Now known as Trials of Mana, Square Enix will rebuild the game with “revamped action-RPG battle, leveling, and skill systems,” as well as “modern 3D graphics”:
Trials of Mana is a full high definition remake of the third entry in the Mana series, previously exclusively released in Japan in 1995 as Seiken Densetsu 3. Trials of Mana tells the story of six heroes as they battle against the monsters of destruction that threaten a world where Mana has been weakened. Players can customize their own party of three, selected from six unique characters, to experience different stories.
The first trailer for Trials of Mana has been embedded above, and the remake will be released for the PC, PS4, and Switch in Early 2020.