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Interview: Serving Up Conversation About Joysticks, Pints, and Kickstarter With the Owner of Glasgow’s First Arcade Bar
One of the rare delights of following projects on Kickstarter is when you spot someone trying to build something in your own town or city, be it a video game, an album, a film, or, in this case, a bar. There is an instant, and intimate, connection of homegrown pride and creative curiosity. That’s especially true after Super Bario popped up on my radar late in its campaign.
For my sins, I never contributed to Super Bario when the project was live, despite my love of both video games and tasty craft beer. The arcade bar occupies a small space on King Street in Glasgow, Scotland, in an area teeming with art and creative spirit. It backs onto the Tron Theatre, while directly opposite there is Trongate 103, home to Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level Photography, and the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre.
I have now become a patron of the bar, and try to pop in when I can, enticing friends who love video games, or those who remember being a kid standing before that monolith of entertainment… a cabinet of wood and a CRT display flickering sprites into our awestruck eyes.
Super Bario has proven to be a great success, a space for gamers to chill and enjoy a drink while sucking in the sweet smell of nostalgia. Amidst the craziness, I managed to chat with co-owner Shaun Murawski, who along with Scott McLauchlan and George Black, conceived of the arcade bar back in 2015, and fought hard to make it a reality with the backing of 166 donors. (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, Retro, Top Story
Horizon Zero Dawn, Torment Tides of Numenera, Suikoden IV, more added to PS Store
It’s time to venture into a new kind of post-apocalyptic world as Sony and Guerrilla Games will release Horizon: Zero Dawn exclusively for the PS4 this week. Now available to download from the PlayStation Store, join Aloy as she explores an Earth that has left humanity behind. Between the robotic wildlife that roam the remnants of the world and the tribal warfare that threatens to snuff out the last of mankind, there are sure to be many secrets to discover in Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Several other epic adventures are available to download this week through the PlayStation Store, including Torment: Tides of Numenera, a sci-fi RPG for the PS4. Built from the ground up as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, Tides of Numenera takes place one billion years in the future and asks players to explore a world “built on the bones of extinct, hyper-advanced civilizations.”
Also available this week is Suikoden IV, an RPG that was originally released for the PS2 in 2004. PS3 owners can now purchase Suikoden IV as part of the PS2 Classics program, and discover the origins of the Rune of Punishment.
Finally this week, Square Enix will give PS4 owners the chance to download A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV for free. Previously available as a pre-order bonus for Final Fantasy XV, A King’s Tale is a retro-styled 2D brawler that takes place 30 years before the events of the main game.
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Horizon: Zero Dawn, Torment: Tides of Numenera
Video Game History Foundation wants to create a digital record of the industry’s past
Frank Cifaldi is a developer who has worked on Mega Man Legacy Collection and IDARB, but he is also the founder of the Video Game History Foundation, a new non-profit that seeks to preserve and digitize the history of video games.
The Video Game History Foundation launched their first “Digital Collection” yesterday, focusing on The NES Launch in 1985. Cifaldi is also seeking donations to expand the scope of the Foundation, as detailed on their “What We’re Doing” page:
The heart of the Foundation is its digital library, an online repository of artifacts related to the history of video games and video game culture. The ultimate goal is to create a searchable, organized, always-online archive of verified, high-quality material that is accessible to researchers and historians as a public education resource.
All donations to the Video Game History Foundation are tax deductible, and I can’t wait to see what collections they come up with next.
More than 60 “Nindies” are in development for Nintendo Switch including SteamWorld Dig 2, Runner 3, Yooka-Laylee, and more
Nintendo presented their first-ever Nindies Showcase for the Nintendo Switch today, and promised that more than 60 games from independent developers will be available for the console in 2017. This includes a staggering number of exclusives and timed exclusives such as…
- Image & Form’s SteamWorld Dig 2, which will be available first on the Switch this Summer.
- Choice Provisions’s Runner 3, which is in development exclusively for the Switch, and will be released this Fall.
- Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine, a side-scrolling shooter that’ll be released for the Switch first this April.
- Team Shifty’s Mr. Shifty, an overhead action game that’ll also be available first for the Switch this April.
- Cardboard Robot’s Pocket Rumble, a retro-styled fighting game that’ll only be available to console owners on the Switch this March.
Other highlights from the Nindies Showcase include confirmation that Yooka-Laylee will be available for the Switch “soon” and that Blaster Master Zero will be released simultaneously for the 3DS and Switch on March 9.
Nintendo’s complete Nindies Showcase presentation has been embedded above, and you can learn more about all the games featured in the video after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch
Tagged Blaster Master Zero, Graceful Explosion Machine, Mr. Shifty, Pocket Rumble, Runner 3, Shakedown Hawaii, Stardew Valley, SteamWorld Dig 2, Yooka-Laylee
Microsoft will launch Xbox Game Pass subscription service this Spring
It looks like Microsoft will challenge Sony’s PlayStation Now subscription service in a big way with the Spring, because the consolemaker announced their own Xbox Game Pass this morning.
Unlike Sony’s service, the Xbox Game Pass does not stream games to your console. Instead, subscribers will gain access to full-game downloads of more than 100 titles for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. But like Netflix, new games will be cycled into the service every month, while older titles will be cycled out.
However, subscribers interested in purchasing any game offered through the Xbox Game Pass will be able to do so at a hefty discount.
Naturally, Microsoft themselves will supply many of the games available to download through the Xbox Game Pass. But the consolemaker has also recruited a huge number of third-party publishers to participate including 2K Games, 505 Games, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Deep Silver, Focus Home Interactive, Sega, SNK, THQ Nordic, and WB Games. And the first wave of available titles will include Halo 5: Guardians, Payday 2, NBA 2K16, and Soul Calibur II.
The Xbox Game Pass will be available later this Spring and Xbox One owners will be able to subscribe to the service for $9.99 a month.
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Halo 5: Guardians, NBA 2K16, Payday 2, Soul Calibur II HD Online
New Retail Releases: Nintendo Switch, Zelda Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, More
It seems like it really snuck up on us, but “Day One” for Nintendo Switch is less than five days away. Nintendo won’t have a ton of games available alongside the launch of their latest console, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which is also coming to the Wii U this week) will surely keep most early adopters busy for quite a while.
However, a handful of other Switch titles will be available for those looking for a different kind of experience. Ubisoft and Activision will bring ports of Just Dance 2017 and Skylanders Imaginators to the Switch. Meanwhile, Nintendo themselves will also launch 1-2-Switch, a quirky multiplayer party game, and Konami will resurrect the Bomberman series with the SNES-inspired Super Bomberman R.
It’s rare to find new games for rival platforms during a new console’s launch period, but the Nintendo Switch will actually face some stiff competition on store shelves this week. Leading the way is Horizon: Zero Dawn, a visually-striking post-apocalyptic adventure from Guerrilla that’ll be released exclusively for the PS4.
Also available this week will be Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (3DS), the latest farming sim from Marvelous; Torment: Tides of Numenera (PS4, Xbox One), a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment; The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (PS4, Xbox One), a Season Pass Disc that’ll grant access to every episode of the zombie-themed adventure; and Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 + Arcade Game Series, a retail re-release of the retro reboot.
You can find a complete list of this week’s new retail releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged 1-2-Switch, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Just Dance 2017, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, Skylanders Imaginators, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, Super Bomberman R, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, Torment: Tides of Numenera
First poster from Netflix’s Castlevania series revealed by Producer Adi Shankar
A Castlevania television series will make its way to Netflix this year, and Producer Adi Shankar recently revealed the first poster for the animated adaptation on his Facebook page. We still don’t know when the series will debut, but the gothic vibe that Shankar is going for is certainly evident in this image.
According to Netflix, the first season will be comprised of four half-hour episodes:
Inspired by the classic video game series, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself.
Based on Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, the Castlevania series will be written by Warren Ellis, and a second season is said to be in production for release in 2018.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro
Tagged Castlevania
The Video Game Canon: Halo: Combat Evolved
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at Microsoft’s first attempt to enter the console market and the birth of Halo: Combat Evolved. Here’s a teaser…
Microsoft is usually portrayed as the stodgy suit in contrast to Apple’s hip turtleneck, but would you believe that the first Xbox prototype was built on a whim by a quartet of guys from the company’s engineering department?
Kevin Bachus, Otto Berkes, Seamus Blackley, and Ted Hase first took their “DirectX Box” to Ed Fries, the head of Microsoft’s video game division, in 1998. Even though everyone in the world had played a dozen hands (or more) of Windows Solitaire, Microsoft wasn’t a big player in the game development arena at the time. Similar to today’s line of console-like PCs, the original “DirectX Box” was an off-the-shelf Windows PC with a video card and a hard drive that hid the Windows-ness of the system from the player.
Before the “DirectX Box” could move forward, Fries and his team had to fight off a challenge from a separate team within Microsoft that had worked with Sega to produce some of the system software for the Dreamcast. They were pushing for the company to create a more traditional console (no Windows, no hard drive), and Bill Gates himself ultimately stepped in to give his blessing to Fries and his “DirectX Box.”
[…]
[Eventually,] Microsoft toted their Xbox prototype, which was a massive X-shaped silver box with a glowing green core, to the 2000 Game Developers Conference, and officially announced their intention to take over the living room (with an assist from Bill Gates and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). A few months after that, the company purchased Bungie Studios and their upcoming game, Halo: Combat Evolved.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Posted in Features, PC, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Halo: Combat Evolved