Sega Ages Columns II “Coming Soon” To The Switch eShop In Japan
Following on from the local release of Wonder Boy: Monster Land and Virtua Racing, Sega has now revealed the next AGES on the way is Columns II: The Voyage Through Time. This classic puzzle game is priced at 999 yen and is “coming soon” to the Japanese Switch eShop.
The game features an arcade mode, featuring two game types: Flash Columns and VS Columns. The first one requires you to match jewels and the second one is all about creating chains to reduce the size of your opponent’s field. Here are some additional features (thanks, Gematsu):
A stage select feature has been added to Flash Columns, allowing you start from any of the 70 stages.
A “Skull Cut” option has been added, which stops the appearance of skulls.
The second player’s field can be flipped 180 degrees to play VS Mode face-to-face when the Switch is placed on the floor / table.
A “Stage Design” option has been added, which allows you to set the design of the field and jewels to your liking—either “Random” or “Columns I.”
Infinite Columns is a new mode being added to the Switch version of Columns II. Its rules are the same as the Arcade Mode’s Flash Columns, except it’s an endless-style game. The floor will gradually rise after a certain amount of time, and by eliminating flashing jewels, all of the same-coloured jewels will be eliminated.
There’ll also be an option to play the Genesis/Sega Mega Drive version of the original Columns. Each time you boot the game up, you can select from one of three background songs.
*This is the same Columns included with the paid “Game Pack” add-on for the Yakuza 0 Companion App for PS Vita.
Lastly is the Network VS feature – allowing you to compete against players online in Arcade Mode VS Columns. There’s also a bonus feature titled Jewel Box. Here you can check the status of the stages you have cleared and view the following:
Depending on your level of achievement, you will be able to see brief profiles for Round Girl and Round Boy, the characters that appear in the opening movies of Sega Ages titles.
Are you looking forward to the release of this Sega Ages title? Leave a comment below.
Doug Bowser Says Nintendo Is “Closely Watching” Streaming Technologies
Streaming is being promoted by companies such as Google as the next big thing within the video game industry. The search-engine giant wants to make high-end gaming accessible across multiple devices and remove the current technical barriers and limitations in place with its new Stadia platform.
So, what does Nintendo think about this push to make streaming the norm within the video game industry? In an article published on Fortune yesterday, following an interview conducted at E3 2019, Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser said it’s something the video game giant is closely watching:
“The Switch delivers on a lot of the promises [of streaming]. It’s a device where you can play anywhere, at any time, with anyone. It’s obviously something that we’re closely watching, and looking at, and understanding.”
As Doug notes, the Switch is a promising device when considering its portable design. Obviously, the system has already played host to a number of streaming experiments in Japan. These include cloud versions of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Resident Evil 7 and Phantasy Star Online 2.
In a separate interview with TIME during the week of E3 2019, Nintendo of America’s president provided a similar response to the one above, saying how the company was “looking” at streaming, but was currently more focused on providing seamless game experiences:
We’re looking at those technologies and understanding their capabilities and how they may contribute to the gameplay experiences we desire with our IP and characters and environments.
However, we also believe that at this point in time Nintendo Switch also offers a very compelling and unique gameplay experience. It’s a very unique platform in that you can play it at home on your TV, and instantaneously pull it out of the dock and go to a portable mode, whether that’s a tabletop mode or a handheld mode, and continue playing that game seamlessly wherever you go.
Would you like to see Nintendo embrace streaming services in the future? What are your thoughts in general about streaming video games to play them? Tell us below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-19-2019, 02:05 AM - Forum: Lounge
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The aggressive resource management of Doom Eternal
2016’s Doom remains one of the most satisfying first-person shooters in recent years. Designed with “push forward combat” in mind, players were rewarded for proactive, aggressive demon-slaying.
The upcoming Doom Eternal will unsurprisingly also forego passivity in favor of aggression. This time around id Software is turning up the aggression in surprising – and fun – ways.
“The solution to all the problems is to be aggressive,” said creative director Hugo Martin in a recent interview. “I think that’s at the core of all our design ethos – you just take what you need when you need it. So, aggressively managing your resources is kind of a new feature in the game, and working hard to make sure that everything in the game really counts, really means something to the player.”
This is how it works in Doom Eternal: if you find you need ammo, chainsaw a demon; if you need health, glory-kill (this is a special melee move); if you need armor, set a demon on fire with your “flame belch”; if you want the more powerful “blood punch” melee, glory kill more demons.
This “aggressive resource management” is a significant change from Doom, and judging from a short play session, it works. It keeps you on your toes and makes regular enemy encounters more interesting.
Martin said every gun, upgrade, and demon is meant to have a purpose. “They push the game forward, [they] keep you thinking, and the main thing is that you’re constantly engaged,” he said.
One recurring theme brought up by both Martin and executive producer Marty Stratton was the idea of teaching players through death. Players will learn fast, thanks to the fast pace of Doom Eternal.
“You’ll probably die. Death is an ok thing, it’s how you learn,” said Stratton. “But you’ll realize ‘I’m low on ammo, I’m low on health, I’m low on armor,’ and you’ll know there’s a demon right there from which I can absolutely get what I need…As long as there are demons on the battlefield, you’ve got the resources you need.”
There are other notable new designs in Doom Eternal. A climbing mechanic gives levels more verticality, and weak spots on bigger enemies lets players pick apart demons by the chunk, which offers up satisfying, frequent feedback when playing.
But combat is still at the heart of the game. Along with new weapons and new resource management, Martin and Stratton said the Doom Eternal team worked on tighter, more balanced AI and combat encounters.
“As [Stratton] said, ‘the guns are the tool and the AI is the problem’, and you gotta bring the right tools to the right situation,” said Martin. “Each AI will push you in different ways.”
He explained how one character called the “carcass” can spawn shields in front of the player, blocking them from “glory-killing” other enemies, or just in general blocking players’ paths. This essentially is the AI’s attempt to cut players off from resources, as other demons provide health, ammo, etc.
This AI behavior is also meant to force the player to choose the right tool for the job. Carcass enemies are in-your-face and their shields are close to players. That proximity limits the use of a powerful rocket launcher, because the blast would highly damage or kill the player. So, in this example, a player may instead choose to use a shotgun to kill the carcass first, as that enemy protects other AI and prevents players from using a more powerful weapon – the rocket launcher. With the carcass out of the way, players can finish the area with the rocket launcher.
“I wouldn’t say this is ‘combat chess’ so much as ‘speed chess,’ because this is all happening super fast,” said Martin. “It’s those types of metas, those types of split-second decisions, that keep the player engaged. It’s an over-used word for us, but that’s what we’re obsessed with; keeping the player engaged.”
He said this is important for a game like Doom Eternal, which has a long campaign. “When you’re bored, you’re not thinking,” he said. “When you’re thinking, you’re engaged.”
Playtesting has been an important part of iterating that engagement. Measuring such nebulous concepts as “engagement” and “fun” is difficult, but Martin said as a game developer, you can just tell if someone’s not having a great time with a game.
“You want to make sure people are really into it,” he said. “When they’re dying, and you can tell if they’re learning from their deaths – that every time they die, it’s not the game that screwed them over, it’s something they did wrong – you can just tell that they want to get back into it. You can just tell as a developer when people are having fun, or when they’re bored, or when they’re frustrated.”
Martin and Stratton agreed that teaching, learning, and reward are at the core of the Doom Eternal power fantasy. You can see this through playing games like Doom: teaching happens through enemy behavior, learning typically comes through death, reward is the satisfaction in taking what you learned and overcoming previously insurmountable obstacles.
Stratton said he played the E3 demo (which lasts about an hour) 30 times and was still having fun with it. “You’ve practiced, you learned, now you can go out and dominate,” he said. “That’s so rewarding, because I took the journey to get there. The game didn’t give it to me.”
“That second half or third act of the game should just be an expression of your mastery of the game,” said Martin.
“[A game with many combat options] is not the type of game we’re making,” said Martin. “There are many different tools at your disposal, many different ways to kill demons. Within our narrow path to success, there are opportunities for players to make choices. But the key thing is that the solution to every problem is to be aggressive, and there’s no way around that.”
For example, if players are playing “peek-a-boo” with an arachnotron instead of engaging combat, the AI will eventually move in and try to finish you off, because you’re refusing to be aggressive.
“[That happens] because you’re not playing the game the right way,” said Martin. “Each time [something like] that happens, you learn a lesson, learn a lesson, and you find that if you hang with the game, it’s like, ‘yeah, I have to be more aggressive than the demons, and that’s how I win.’”
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-19-2019, 02:05 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Gearbox wants crossplay in Borderlands 3, but it won’t launch with it
Gearbox wants Borderlands 3 to be one of a growing number of games that have bridged the console gap for online multiplayer, but the feature won’t be offered when it launches in September.
Taking to Twitter, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford explained that the team at Gearbox is “committed to supporting crossplay for Borderlands 3” but that, when the game launches, multiplayer team-ups will be restricted by what platform people are playing on.
He says that Gearbox is working with its partners to support the feature “as soon as practicable after launch,” but cannot offer a timeframe or anything more concrete at this point in time. As other game devs can attest, the most difficult part of enabling cross-platform play across platforms like PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 can sometimes be convincing the platform holders themselves to allow the feature.
That being said, cross-platform play is becoming more common in this day and age. Dauntless, for one, recently launched on consoles with day-one support for cross-platform multiplayer, and games like Fortnite and Rocket League have also opened up to multi-platform online play sessions.
In a follow-up tweet, Pitchford clarifies that it is currently working with Gearbox’s partners to “create a positive crossplay experience as soon as practicable. We are committed to crossplay on as many platforms as possible.”
Fujitsu and GE Research have joined LF Edge as Premier members. Fujitsu and GE Research join a growing roster of 70+ current members, which includes existing Premier members Aricent, Arm, AT&T, Baidu, Dell EMC, Dianomic Inc., Ericsson, HP Inc., HPE, Huawei, IBM, Intel, inwinStack, Juniper Networks, MobiledgeX, Netsia, Nokia Solutions, NTT, OSIsoft, Qualcomm Technologies, Radisys, Red Hat, Samsung Electronics, Seagate Technology, Tencent, WindRiver, Wipro, and ZEDEDA. LF Edge is an umbrella organization within the Linux Foundation that aims to establish an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud, or operating system.
Monster Hunter World Has Crossed Big New Milestone, Rewards On The Way
Monster Hunter World has hit another sales milestone, and Capcom is rewarding the community with some free items to celebrate. The company announced on Twitter that it had hit 13 million units shipped worldwide. As a result you can claim some rewards through the end of August.
From July 25 to August 29, you can log in to get a package of items including one Attack Jewel, 13 Appreciation Tickets, 13 Silver Eggs, 3 Gold Wyverian Prints, and 3 Heavy Armor Spheres.
That all puts it in a nice position for the upcoming expansion, Iceborne. It will be the first major expansion for Monster Hunter World, which launches on September 6, introducing loads of new monsters, mechanics, and a new area to explore. A recent trailer also showed off subspecies monsters and improvements to the gathering hub.
There Are Now More Than 100 Switch Joy-Con Colour Combinations
Yesterday, Nintendo surprised everyone when it revealed two new sets of Joy-Con would be arriving on 4th October. There’s blue and neon yellow or neon purple and neon orange to select from.
If you’ve gone to great lengths to collect every single coloured Joy-Con so far and are wondering how many combinations there now are if you mix and match them all, a Reddit user by the name of LimeheadGames has posted an updated chart featuring every single possible combination.
According to Nintendo of America, the new sets of Joy-Con will be priced at $79.99. Be sure to take a look at the existing announcement post, if you haven’t already.
Will you be picking up the latest sets? How many Joy-Con do you currently own? Leave a comment below.
Splatoon Producer Hasn’t Thought About The Future Of The Series Just Yet
After two years, Splatoon 2’s development appears to be winding down. It has received an expansion and this weekend Nintendo is hosting the final Splatfest. After this, though, future support will be limited to balance adjustments and monthly league matches.
So, what’s next for the Inkling and Octoling? Speaking to Weekly Famitsu magazine, Splatoon Producer Hisashi Nogami said the team hadn’t thought about the future of the series just yet, as they’ve been so busy with the constant stream of updates for Splatoon 2.
In saying this, Nogami did explain how something might happen if support for the series continued (translation below courtesy of BlackKite):
Splatoon 2’s production started moving right after 1 was released. Now we also had production for Octo Expansion so we’re fully focused on the updates, and we still haven’t thought of the future.
For future plans, we’ll think of them after everything is over.
We’re not yet at a phase where we can make a promise, but we’d like to return the favour in some sort of way to many people who have supported us. If you continue to support us, it might turn into reality.
For more details about this weekend’s final Splatfest, check out our previous article.
Have you thought about the future of the Splatoon series? What would you like to see? Which team are you siding with in the final Splatoon 2 Splatfest? Share your thoughts below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-18-2019, 11:24 PM - Forum: Windows
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Find out what Xbox will be up to at gamescom 2019
Following this year’s incredible E3 and the breathtaking reaction we’ve had from our fans, we’re excited to let you know that Xbox will be coming to gamescom 2019 in Cologne, Germany. We’ll be bringing a great line up of games to the event from developers around the world with almost 200 gameplay stations in our booth, including the first public hands-on of both Minecraft Dungeons, Horde Mode in Gears 5 and fans in Germany can also try Project xCloud for the first time.
Here’s a quick overview of what we’ll be getting up to at the show this year:
Inside Xbox live from Cologne To kick off the week, we’ll be hosting a special episode of Inside Xbox live from the Gloria Theatre in Cologne. Tune in Monday, August 19 at 5:00 p.m. CEST (8:00 a.m. PDT) for the latest news, games, accessories, and features that we can’t wait to tell you more about!
Xbox Open Doors Held at the Gloria Theatre on Wednesday, August 21 to Friday, August 23, Xbox Open Doors offers fans a multiday experience during the week of gamescom. Entry to Xbox Open Doors is free and fans will be able to participate in community events, game tournaments, panel sessions and other exciting experiences. Stay tuned for more information and announcements about Xbox Open Doors.
Xbox Booth The Xbox booth will feature nearly 200 gaming stations with a fantastic line up of titles across a variety of genres and platforms, with many of these experiences coming to Xbox Game Pass for Console and Xbox Game Pass for PC at launch. If you’re coming to the show, make sure you pay us a visit – we’re in Hall 8 of the Koelnmesse (access via North entrance).
gamescom will be the first time that fans in Europe will have the chance to jump in and try out many of our newest gameplay experiences from Xbox Game Studios including Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, Battletoads, Bleeding Edge, Gears 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC, Minecraft Dungeons and more. In addition, we’ll have several highly anticipated third-party games available to play at the booth, including Borderlands 3, Doom Eternal, NBA 2K20, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. Fans at gamescom will also be amongst the first in Europe to get hands-on with Project xCloud and experience the true power of cloud gaming on mobile.
Lastly, at Xbox, we believe that gaming should be safe, inclusive, and accessible for all, and in that spirit we’re excited to announce that our booth is even more accessible to fans at the show this year. This includes Xbox Adaptive Controllers available for nearly every game on the booth, wheelchair access at every point of the booth and sign language interpreting support for all on-booth programming in both English and German.
Windows Gaming Powered by Xbox Game Pass Featuring Xbox Game Pass for PC titles such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and more at our Xbox booth, you can also check out the latest PC gaming hardware at our booth dedicated to gaming on Windows PC. We’ll also have custom-built PCs from BoostBoxx by CSL, the latest gaming laptops and desktops from Acer and other partners showcasing high-quality components that deliver powerful PC gaming experiences. Fans can even try the goliath of gaming chairs, the Predator Thronos!
Visit the Xbox Official Gear Shop Returning to gamescom in partnership with Game Legends, come and visit the Xbox Official Gear Shop in the gamescom fanshop arena. Fly your gaming colors and show off your fandom for Xbox and award-winning franchises like Gears of War, Halo, and Sea of Thieves with all new apparel and collectibles including the gamescom exclusive Xbox Green Tech Sphere pin!
Show opening times are as follows:
Tuesday, August 20 – 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. CEST (press/trade only day)
Wednesday, August 21 – 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CEST
Thursday, August 22 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST
Friday, August 23 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST
Saturday, August 24 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST
Remember to keep your eyes on Xbox social channels for the latest news and updates surrounding Xbox at gamescom 2019 – Mixer, Facebook, Twitter – we’ll keep you updated with all the great activity happening from the show. Can’t wait to see you there!
Etherborn is an elegant leap in the gravity-puzzle genre, an environmental puzzle platformer built on exploring and understanding gravity-shifting structures. Travel through beautiful and exotic locations, where each level is an organic puzzle to explore, manipulate and shift gravity on in order to decipher the way forward.
