All Articles: Phantom Dust

Xbox Store Today: Phantom Dust, Injustice 2, The Surge, more

Posted on May 17, 2017 by John Scalzo

Visitors to the Xbox Games Store today will be greeted by a blast from the past, the latest from NetherRealm Studios, and a new action RPG from Deck 13.

Phantom Dust was originally released for the Xbox in 2004, and was one of Microsoft’s first attempts to cater to the Japanese market. Microsoft’s push didn’t go as planned, but Phantom Dust became a cult hit that is available to download for free on the Xbox One and Windows 10. The re-release features the same gameplay that hooked fans more than a decade ago, as well as cross-device multiplayer, Achievements, and a new 16×9 presentation.

Also available to download today for the Xbox One is Injustice 2, the latest one-on-one fighting game from NetherRealm Studios. With Superman in prison and his Regime in disarray, players will once again be able to jump into its completely unpredictable alternate universe.

Finally today, Focus Home Interactive and Deck 13 will bring The Surge to the Xbox One. This action RPG features a futuristic setting involving augmented soldiers doing battle with dismemberment guns… no, really.

More information on all of these games (and the rest of today’s new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)

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Phantom Dust re-release will be available for free beginning tomorrow, May 16

Posted on May 15, 2017 by John Scalzo

Well this is a surpise.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has announced (via Twitter) that Phantom Dust will be available for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on May 16… also known as tomorrow. Best of all, the re-release will be free to download on both platforms as a thank you to fans.

Phantom Dust was originally released for the Xbox in 2004 as part of a push to help the console appeal to Japanese gamers. It’s card-based combination of strategy and action eventually lead to it becoming something of a cult classic. The 2017 re-release will offer improved resolutions, better framerates, and slightly tweaked gameplay.

Microsoft is keen to bring back the Phantom Dust franchise and even announced a sequel/reboot in 2014. However, it was plagued by development difficulties and was put on hiatus in 2015. Perhaps a successful launch for the re-release will bring it back to life…

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Microsoft’s “Epic 2017” includes Crackdown 3, Sea of Thieves, Tacoma, Cuphead, and more

Posted on February 21, 2017 by John Scalzo

We’re nearly to the end of February, but Microsoft thought today was a great day to launch their first major game of 2017, Halo Wars 2. To celebrate, the consolemaker turned the spotlight on their “Epic 2017” in a special episode of This Week on Xbox.

Besides delving deeper into the latest addition to the Halo franchise, Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb and friends explore Crackdown 3, Phantom Dust, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and several indie games (including Ron Gilbert’s Thimbleweed Park and Studio MDHR’s Cuphead) set to launch this year through the ID@Xbox program.

Microsoft’s Chris Charla also confirmed that ID@Xbox developers will have a major presence at GDC 2017, and Microsoft’s Showcase will include more than 20 titles. GDC attendees will get a chance to play Fullbright’s Tacoma (and many others) when the conference kicks off in San Francisco next week.

Finally, Phil “Head of Xbox” Spencer had a few more words to say about Microsoft’s “Epic 2017” on the Xbox Wire, and he also confirmed that a remake of Voodoo Vince will be available for the PC and Xbox One this Spring.

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Phantom Dust’s PC/Xbox One re-release should launch sometime before E3 2017

Posted on January 30, 2017 by John Scalzo

But in 2015, Microsoft revealed that they’d quietly put development of Phantom Dust 2 on hiatus, effectively killing the project. A year later, the consolemaker also quietly announced that a high definition remake of the original Phantom Dust, which launched for the Xbox in 2004, would be released for the PC and Xbox One in 2017.

With the calendar flipping over to 2017 a few weeks ago, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer confirmed today that Phantom Dust HD is scheduled to be released sometime before this year’s E3 Expo in June:

Hopefully, we’ll hear more about Phantom Dust HD in the coming weeks.

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