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Batman: The Telltale Series gets new graphical style with the launch of the Shadows Edition
The Dark Knight is getting a little darker as we head into 2020.
That’s because the resurrected Telltale Games has partnered with Athlon Games to launch Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition for multiple platforms. Available to download for the PC and Xbox One today (and coming to the PS4 on December 20 and the Switch in the near future), the compilation includes both Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within, as well as a brand new noir-style visual filter known as Shadows Mode, which you can see for yourself in the trailer embedded above.
“We’re excited to be able to build and continue the legacy of an iconic Telltale Games franchise by launching Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition,” said Brian Waddle, the Chief Revenue Officer at Telltale Games. “This is just the beginning in a much more expansive plan to build on our catalog of Telltale Games titles, which we hope to discuss in further detail in the coming months.”
Batman: The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition will be priced at $29.99, but Batfans who already own the games can purchase the Shadows Mode filter as downloadable content for $4.99.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Enemy Within, Batman: The Telltale Series
Nintendo and Square Enix will bring Bravely Default II to the Switch in 2020
During this year’s Game Awards, Nintendo and Square Enix announced that Bravely Default II will be released exclusively for the Switch in 2020. A World Premiere Trailer for the RPG sequel accompanied the announcement, and it’s been embedded above.
If you’re confused by the title, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Bravely Default II is actually the third game in the Bravely series, and shouldn’t be confused with 2016’s Bravely Second: End Layer. However, it does feature an entirely new set of characters, so it is something of a fresh start for the franchise:
An original RPG experience is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2020 from the team that brought you the Bravely series and Octopath Traveler, and featuring music from Revo, acclaimed composer of the original Bravely Default soundtrack.
A new world, a new story and all-new Heroes of Light await!
Bravely Default II is currently in the works at Square Enix’s Team Asano, whose members produced the original game in the series, as well as 2018’s Octopath Traveler.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Game Awards 2019
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins “Game of the Year” at the 2019 Game Awards
Geoff Keighley and his co-presenters shotgunned their way through dozens of awards during tonight’s Game Awards, but in between all the World Premiere Trailers, they managed to shine a brief spotlight on a wide variety of titles. Unlike most years when a handful of titles dominate the conversation, this year’s Game Awards spread the wealth among a lot of worthy winners, including Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, this year’s recipient of the “Game of the Year” award.
From Software’s ninja adventure also claimed the “Best Action/Adventure Game” trophy, but it wasn’t able to sway the jury for the other three nominations it was up for. Instead, ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium became the most-honored game of the night, winning “Best Narrative,” “Best Role Playing Game,” “Best Independent Game,” and “Fresh Indie Game.”
Some of the ceremony’s other winners included Kojima Production’s Death Stranding (“Best Game Direction,” “Best Score/Music,” and “Best Performance” for Mads Mikkelsen), Remedy’s Control (“Best Art Direction”), Beat Games’s Beat Saber (“Best VR/AR Game”), Respawn’s Apex Legends (“Best Multiplayer”), and Activision’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (“Best Sports/Racing Game”).
In addition to a rousing speech by their former President, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo had a great night too, taking home trophies for “Best Fighting Game” (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), “Best Family Game” (Luigi’s Mansion 3), and “Best Strategy Game” (Fire Emblem: Three Houses).
A complete list of winners from the 2019 Game Awards can be found at Video Game Canon.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2019, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare repeats as the best-selling game of November 2019
Not even the combined might of two new Pokemon games could stop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from holding on to its position as the best-selling game of November 2019… but Nintendo and Game Freak certainly made it interesting.
According to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella (via Twitter), three Pokemon games actually managed to crack the top five last month. Pokemon Sword sliced its way to #3, while Pokemon Shield built a stronghold at #5. Sandwiched in the middle at #4 was the Pokemon Sword + Pokemon Shield Double Pack, which was counted as a separate game by the tracking firm.
If you were wondering what would have happened if all three games were combined onto a single line, Piscatella said that the combined sales of Sword, Shield, and the Double Pack would have landed at #2 for the month (though who knows what the sales charts would have looked like if Nintendo contributed eShop sales to the dataset). Even with that caveat, new releases dominated last month’s ranking, with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (#2), Death Stranding (#7), and Need For Speed Heat (#9) in the top ten. Going further down the list, you’ll also find Just Dance 2020 at #14.
Overall, the game industry collected $2.3 billion in sales last month, a 19% drop from November of 2018. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console during the month, and it remains the best-selling console for all of 2019.
You can find the full list of best-selling games from November 2019 after the break. (more…)
Tetris 99 adds Team Battle Mode ahead of this weekend’s 10th Maximus Cup
Nintendo has a big surprise in store for Tetris 99 players ahead of the puzzler’s 10th Maximus Cup event. The consolemaker announced today that Team Battle Mode has been added to Tetris 99, which will allow friends and strangers to compete together as comrades-in-arms:
In Team Battle Mode, players choose their favorite of four teams at the start of each game. Some teams may end up with many more members, but smaller teams receive a boost in attack power when being attacked, adding an unexpected element to each match. As players get eliminated through the course of battle, the final team standing with at least one player remaining wins. And even better, all members of the winning team can share in the victory! Players who are KO’d early in the game will go into Spectator Mode and can send “Likes” to cheer on their teammates. Players will want to stick around until their team has obtained a rank to receive their XP points. Or, if Team Battle is the active mode for a Maximus Cup event, stay for their event points.
As you might have guessed, Team Battle Mode will be the focus of this weekend’s Maximus Cup, which begins in just a few days on Friday, December 13, at 2:00 AM (Eastern Time). The contest will continue until Tuesday, December 17, at 2:00 AM (Eastern Time), and the 999 players who earn the most Event Points will receive 999 Gold Points (the equivalent of $10) to spend in the eShop.
In addition to Team Battle Mode, this update will also give Tetris 99 players the chance to unlock some of the in-game Themes that were only available through previous Maximus Cup events. The Tetris for Game Boy, Splatoon, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Super Kirby Clash Themes are all available to purchase through the Customize menu for 30 Tickets apiece.
So, where we dropping?
Jamestown+ Review: Get Your Bum to Mars
Final Form Games is a small developer based out of Philadelphia, and they originally released Jamestown, a vertically-scrolling “neoclassical” shooter, for the PC in 2011. Three years later, they brought their game to the PS4 as Jamestown+, adding a pair of bonus levels and several new ships.
But here we are in 2019 and it looks like the game is finally ready to reach its “final form” (or rather, how the developer “originally intended” to release it). That’s because the development team will bring Jamestown+ to the Switch this week with even more updates and improvements. (more…)
Bethesda will bring John Romero’s Sigil and Final Doom to Doom and Doom II on consoles
Bethesda has promised that Doom and Doom II will soon become a little bit more complete on consoles and mobile ddvices. Yesterday, the publisher hosted a 26th Anniversary Celebration for the seminal first persona shooter on Twitch, and they confirmed during the livestream that four of the franchise’s more famous fan-made expansions will soon be available to download on the PS4, Switch, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.
These expansions will be available to download, for free, through a brand new Add-Ons tab in both games. According to Bethesda, the list of “curated” add-ons will initially include Sigil, which was released just this year as the unofficial “Fifth Episode” for Doom by co-creator John Romero, and No Rest For the Living, a Doom II expansion that made its debut on the Xbox 360 in 2010.
Final Doom, a 1996 retail repackaging of TnT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, will also be available to download in Doom and Doom II as part of the update. Best of all, Bethesda confirmed that more add-ons will be added to both games at a later date.
On top of all that, Bethesda is also planning a few quality of life updates for the shooters, including bumping the graphics to 60 FPS and adding options for additional aspect ratios.
It’s currently unknown when the add-on update or the quality of life update will be available, but Bethesda said that it’ll be “soon.”
Axiom Verge 2 will come to the Nintendo Switch in Fall 2020
Nintendo highlighted more than a dozen new indie games earlier today during a brand new Indie World video, and the consolemaker confirmed that they’ll all be making their way to the Switch sometime in 2020. The biggest announcement was, without a doubt, Axiom Verge 2.
Once again developed by Thomas Happ, Axiom Verge 2 takes place in Antarctica, but players will also be forced to explore a breach in reality that leads to “an ancient, alternate Earth, complete with mountains, lakes, deserts, and the ruins of a civilization.” That’s quite the mystery, but here’s what else the developer was willing to share so far:
You may think you already know the world of Axiom Verge. Think again.
Indra alone can navigate the breach. She fights for her life, empowered by the same microscopic machines that are gradually consuming her humanity. Life. Afterlife. Real. Virtual. Dream. Nightmare. It’s a thin line. It’s Axiom Verge 2.
An Announcement Trailer for Axiom Verge 2 has been embedded above, and the game will make its Switch debut in Fall 2020. The developer also said that fans can expect details on “additional platforms” for the game in the future, so it looks like Axiom Verge 2 won’t be exclusive to the Switch.