All Articles: Game Awards 2018

Nintendo will launch Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order on the Switch in 2019

Posted on December 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

The crossover potential of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance franchise has always felt like the closest analogue to playing through the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a controller in your hand… even though the series was stopped (after two games) before the MCU really got going. But fresh off of launching the universe-spanning Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo will bring the series back in 2019 with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.

Set to launch exclusively for the Switch, and revealed during last night’s Game Awards, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is in development at Team Ninja and will once again offer fans of multiplayer-focused Action RPGs a chance to play in Marvel’s giant sandbox:

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order brings together Super Heroes and Super Villains from across the Marvel Universe to battle for the limitless power of the Infinity Gauntlet, one Stone at a time. This unprecedented team of characters must use their unique superpowers to defeat the mad cosmic tyrant Thanos and his ruthless warmasters, The Black Order. The game will feature an original story and a playable cast of dozens of Marvel Super Heroes, including the Avengers, the X-Men, and—for the first time in series history—the Guardians of the Galaxy.

“The Marvel Ultimate Alliance games have been beloved by fans for more than a decade, and this new installment on Nintendo Switch will deliver even more of the thrills and heroics that the franchise is known for,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Thanks to our partnership with Marvel, the fate of the Marvel Universe will literally be in the hands of Nintendo Switch players, whether they’re at home or on the go.”

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order will include a variety of multiplayer options for up to four players. In addition to online multiplayer, couch co-op will be available for single-system play or local wireless play.

If you’ll recall, The Black Order shared the screen with The Avengers during this Summer’s Avengers: Infinity War. You can see how they’ll once again take the fight to the Marvel Universe in the Announcement Trailer embedded above.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged ,

Persona 5’s Joker will join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019

Posted on December 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo has always been happy to add third-party characters to the Smash series, but the first character announced for the game’s upcoming Fighters Pass goes far beyond the likes of Sonic, Pac-Man, and Bayonetta. Revealed last night during the Game Awards, Persona 5‘s Joker will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sometime in 2019.

Nintendo, and Director Masahiro Sakurai, proudly declared that “Everyone is Here!” during 25-minute mega-trailer that introduced Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster to the world. But Joker’s inclusion in the Fighters Pass (and the earlier announcement of Piranha Plant), definitely proves that the theme for Ultimate’s DLC is probably “Anyone Could be Added!”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Fighters Pass is now available to purchase for $24.99. All DLC characters will also be sold individually for $5.99 apiece.

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Supergiant’s Hades is now available in Early Access through the Epic Games Store

Posted on December 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

Supergiant Games unveiled the first trailer for their next game, Hades, during last night’s Game Awards. The indie developer also didn’t waste anytime making it available to fans… and that’s because Hades is now available in Early Access through the Epic Games Store.

Building on the developer’s history (which includes Bastion and Transistor), Hades is an isometric dungeon crawler that asks players to escape from the darkest depths of the Underworld. But according to the developer’s official website, Hades also carves out some new territory as Supergiant’s first procedurally-generated title. This stylistic choice is a new direction for the developer, but Hades will feature a strong focus on story, as well as almost two dozen “fully voiced characters”:

Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler where you defy the god of death as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth. It’s never the same experience twice: Each time you play, you’ll combine the divine might of various Olympian gods with your own, brave nefarious new challenges, and unravel more of the story featuring our award-winning art, audio, and narrative.

Hades is currently available to download exclusively through the Epic Games Store, and will remain that way for at least a year and a half as Supergiant fine-tunes “every aspect of the experience.” This includes several free updates (and a handful of minor ones) that will add new “features, events, characters, weapons, powers, environments, and more” to the game over the coming weeks and months.

And don’t worry console gamers, once the Early Access period is complete, Hades is expected to launch on “a variety of platforms.”

Posted in News, PC | Tagged ,

Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One on April 23

Posted on December 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm Studios has worked on a pretty steady schedule since the release of Mortal Kombat in 2011. Thankfully, they’re not breaking the pattern in 2019.

Last night at the Game Awards, the developer confirmed that Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on April 23. The launch will be preceded by a “Community Reveal Event” on January 17, and fans who pre-order the game will receive a bonus fighter (Shao Kahn) and access to Mortal Kombat 11’s upcoming Beta.

NetherRealm will also meld the Character Variations mechanic from Mortal Kombat X with Injustice 2‘s Gear System to allow players to create Custom Character Variations in Mortal Kombat 11:

The all new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control to customize the fighters and make them your own. The new graphics engine showcasing every skull-shattering, eye-popping moment, brings you so close to the fight you can feel it. And featuring a roster of new and returning Klassic Fighters, Mortal Kombat’s best in class cinematic story mode continues the epic saga over 25 years in the making.

The goretastic first trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 has been embedded above.

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Sony Santa Monica’s God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2018 Game Awards

Posted on December 7, 2018 by John Scalzo

In what is surely to be the first of many accolades, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War won “Game of the Year” at the 2018 Game Awards. Kratos’s latest adventure also picked up statuettes for “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”

But the biggest winner of the night was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which picked up four wins last night. The publisher’s “Cowboy Game” collected some shiny hardware for “Best Narrative,” “Best Score/Music,” “Best Audio Design,” and “Best Performance” (for Roger Clark’s work as Arthur Morgan).

The all-mighty Fortnite picked up two awards, “Best Ongoing Game” and “Best Multiplayer,” but the most surprising news of the night might be that Insomniac’s Spider-Man was completely shut out. Best of luck next time to the ol’ webhead.

More than a dozen different games went home as winners at the 2018 Game Awards, and you can find them all after the break. (more…)

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Multiple nominations for Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, and God of War will make this year’s Game Awards an EPIC event

Posted on November 13, 2018 by John Scalzo

gameawards-statueIt’s been a big year for super-sized games like Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 and Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, and it looks like they’ll be front and center (alongside a few other epic titles) at this year’s Game Awards show on December 6.

Rockstar’s western and Sony’s Norse fable tied for the most nominations (eight apiece), and they’ll both be competing for “Game of the Year” against Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World, and Matt Thorson’s Celeste.

This year, fans will be able to make their voices heard in the balloting by joining the official The Game Awards Discord server, and voting for their favorites in all categories. Voting through the Discord server is now open and will be available through December 5.

The Game Awards will kick off at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) on December 6, and fans can watch the show through their favorite video streaming service or at TheGameAwards.com. As usual, we can also expect to see “exclusive game world premieres” and “new game announcements.”

The full list of nominees can be found after the break.

(more…)

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