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All Articles: PAX East 2020
The Wonderful 101 Remastered will be released on May 19
With their Kickstarter campaign entering its final days, Platinum Games and Nighthawk Interactive have announced a release date for The Wonderful 101 Remastered. The campaign’s backers are still on track to receive the game in April, but all PC, PS4, and Switch owners will get a second chance to play the quirky superhero game on May 19.
Along with confirmation of the release date, Game Designer Hideki Kamiya published a heartfelt message to fans of the game on Platinum’s official website:
Re-Introducing the Wonderful 101
Hello, everyone. Platinum Games Chief Game Designer Hideki Kamiya here.
About seven years ago, we released The Wonderful 101. I’ve moved up to become a member of the Platinum Games executive board, but back in those days, I didn’t think very much about the business end of things (okay, I’ll admit that maybe I still don’t). I devoted all of my attention to creating games that met my own personal standards. The Wonderful 101 was the sixth game I’d directed throughout my career. Unfortunately, I can’t say it was much of a success, from a business standpoint.
But I’ve also never thought of it as a failure. I didn’t back then, and I don’t today. That’s because, to a game creator, a game is only a failure if it disappoints the gamers who play it. From the start, The Wonderful 101 didn’t quite reach a large enough audience for me to clearly call it either way.
So regardless of how The Wonderful 101 fared in the marketplace the first time around, I’m considering this a chance to show it to the world again. I’m looking forward to seeing how it measures up.
The Wonderful 101 has gotten this miraculous second chance thanks to all of you who’ve told us you wanted to play it, as well as the passionate PG staff who worked on it with me. We’re delighted to see it return on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam.
This isn’t just a simple port, either. We’ve tuned the controls for each new platform and made several adjustments that should make it easier to grasp and play. On top of that, we’ve improved the image quality and frame rate to suit modern hardware. On the whole, I’d say The Wonderful 101 Remastered is the definitive edition of the game!
We’ve loaded The Wonderful 101 Remastered with as much Platinum spirit as we could. I sincerely hope you’ll all play it and let us know what you think!
If you’re attending PAX East this weekend in Boston, you’ll be able to get some demo time with The Wonderful 101 Remastered at Platinum’s booth. A short Release Date Trailer for the game has also been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch
Tagged PAX East 2020, The Wonderful 101
See the first Gameplay Trailer for Alien Hominid Invasion
PAX East kicked off this morning, and The Behemoth has used the annual game expo to give fans a chance to try out their next project, Alien Hominid Invasion. But for those of us who couldn’t make the trek to Boston, they also uploaded a brand new Gameplay Trailer for the game, which has been embedded above.
The short clip gives us a nice peak at the developer’s commitment to “reimagine” Alien Hominid for a new generation of players. In addition to showcasing a variety of new ways to beat the dreaded Agents, Alien Hominid Invasion will include four-player cooperative play, a non-linear world map, procedurally-generated levels, and customizable alien mutations that grant superpowers such as speed, healing, and flight:
Alien Hominid Invasion is packed with chaos, mayhem, and a whole lot of explosions. Unlock and equip an arsenal of weapons and boosts, level up, then beam down to invade Earth with up to three other friends. Abduct intel from your enemies to sabotage their plans, observe the oddities of human life, blow up bosses, and mutate into a variety of powerful Alien forms in order to take down the not-so-secret Agents that are dead set on ruining your day.
Alien Hominid Invasion doesn’t have a release date, but it’s currently in development for the PC, Switch, and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PC, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Alien Hominid Invasion, PAX East 2020
Fan-made Half-Life reimagining Black Mesa will launch on March 5
Black Mesa, a fan-made “reimagining” of Valve’s groundbreaking Half-Life, has taken its development team on a long and winding road. First revealed back in 2005, the game received Valve’s blessing in 2012 and later launched in Early Access in 2015. Since then, the team at Crowbar Collective has spent years rebuilding Gordon Freeman’s world from the ground up, taking particular care with the alien environs of the game’s divisive Xen chapter.
But now they’re finally ready to launch “Version 1.0” of Black Mesa.
Crowbar Collective’s Adam Engels shared the news on Steam, and confirmed that the complete game will finally be available to download on March 5th:
I hope that everyone has something that inspires them as much as Half-Life inspired us. I hope that everyone embraces the setbacks and challenges that come, and I hope no one fears the long road in front of them.
Black Mesa 1.0 will launch Thursday March 5th on Steam.
If you’re planning to be in Boston for this weekend’s PAX East expo, you’ll be able to try out a playable demo of Black Mesa for yourself at Crowbar Collective’s booth (#24081) on the show floor.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged PAX East 2020
Yacht Club Games announces Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon
It looks like Shovel Knight is spinning off once again, as Yacht Club Games announced Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon during a livestream earlier today.
According to the developer’s official website, Pocket Dungeon was designed as a unique “puzzle adventure mashup” that brings together the world of falling block puzzle games with a dungeon-crawling twist. Shovel Knight will need to keep his wits about him (and his trademark sense of humor) as he teams up with Puzzle Knight to navigate the mysterious Pocket Dungeon:
Delve with Shovel Knight into the depths of the Pocket Dungeon in an action-packed puzzle adventure mashup like none other! Join your mysterious guide Puzzle Knight as you shovel through scads of foes, procure new equipment, and battle bosses both familiar and new. Explore a tale with endless twists and turns, quest as your favorite heroes, and even challenge a friend for fast-paced head-to-head competition in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon!
Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon will include multiple playable characters, each with a unique style, and players will be able to compete in a single-player Story Mode or two-player Versus Mode. And Yacht Club’s musical maestro, Jake Kaufman, will once again provide the soundtrack.
Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon is currently in development for the Switch and fans will be able to try it out at this weekend’s PAX East expo in Boston. The game’s first trailer has been embedded above.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged PAX East 2020
Batterystaple Games will release 30XX in 2021
Batterystaple Games’s 20XX launched to rave reviews when it was released in 2017, filling a gap in the roguelike platformer genre (“Mega Man but with procedurally-generated levels”) that most fans didn’t even realize was there.
But rather than rest on their laurels, the developer is travelling 1,000 years into the future to bring a sequel, 30XX, to the PC and consoles in 2021. Once again employing a procedurally-generated structure, 30XX will feature a new “hi-bit art style” from Art Director Glauber Kotaki, as well as eight new worlds to explore:
20XX heroes Nina and Ace return with a myriad of new abilities. No longer merely wielding different primary weapons, in 30XX the powerful pair possess entirely distinct move sets allowing greater freedom of expression for both exploring levels and beating back the machines holding Earth prisoner.
Nina’s new Power Fusion system allows her to meld together abilities earned from vanquishing bosses and tailor them to the situation at hand with 64 separate attacks. Meanwhile, the blade-brandishing Ace boasts a versatile set of Techniques, which can be chained together with standard attacks to unleash fierce combos, adapt to any situation, and reach new heights.
Batterystaple Games will be hitting the road with 30XX very soon. The developer plans to showcase the game at this year’s PAX East expo (February 27 – March 1 in Boston) as part of the Indie Megabooth. In the meantime, an Announcement Trailer for the game has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged PAX East 2020
NIS America will bring five playable demos (including one secret game) to PAX East 2020
NIS America has announced that they’re bringing five playable demos to this year’s PAX East convention… including one secret game.
The ones that we know about include a pair of compilations coming in March (Langrisser I & II and La-Mulana 1 & 2), a survival adventure set to launch this April (Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories), and the Switch debut of a popular RPG series (The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III).
But because everyone loves a secret, it’s that fifth game that’s sure to get attendees (and everyone else) excited. NIS America isn’t offering any hints as to what else they’re bringing to Boston, but it will be playable at their booth.
This year’s PAX East convention will take place from February 27th through March 1, and you can learn more about NIS America’s game lineup after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories, PAX East 2020
The Behemoth will “eventually” bring Alien Hominid Invasion to PC and consoles
After bringing Castle Crashers to the PS4 and Switch in 2019, The Behemoth is finally ready to announce their next project… and it’s a sequel to their very first game. The developer revealed that “Game 5” is actually Alien Hominid Invasion, and they promised that it’ll “eventually” make its way to PC and consoles. It’s too early to know for sure, but that “eventually” might mean we’re in for a bit of a wait.
In the meantime, The Behemoth will bring a playable demo of Alien Hominid Invasion to this year’s PAX East and EGX Rezzed events. New details will be announced at PAX East, but for now, the developer wants fans to anticipate a “drastically different” Alien Hominid experience:
Alien Hominid Invasion will stand alone as a new title in The Behemoth’s catalogue. Gameplay, progression, and mechanics have all been reworked and are drastically different from those present in the original Alien Hominid HD. Alien Hominid Invasion will also include unique weapons, character customization, non-linear levels, and more.
A short Announcement Trailer for Alien Hominid Invasion has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Alien Hominid Invasion, PAX East 2020