Random: The Internet Is Obsessed With Nintendo’s Good Boy, Undodog
One of the highlights during the recent Super Mario Maker 2 Direct presentation was the confirmation of Undodog, a good boy who is one of the many helpful characters Mario will encounter in the brand new story mode.
If you’re not familiar with Undodog (also known as Undo Dog), he first appeared in the 1992 Super Nintendo title, Mario Paint on the Super Nintendo. Since then, he’s made cameo appearances in the WarioWare series and has also featured in Super Mario Maker on the Wii U and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. His primary function, if it wasn’t already obvious, is to undo the player’s last action.
Since appearing in Super Mario Maker 2’s 3D story world, the internet has once again gone wild for Undodog – with many Nintendo fans on social media creating artwork for the character and crying out for his inclusion as a DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Some even want him to be featured in his own standalone game, while others have theories he might be the villain in Super Mario Maker’s sequel. Here’s a round-up of the tweets about Undodog on Twitter:
One Smash Bros. Ultimate player even made a stage based on this underdog:
Were you excited when you saw Undodog pop up on-screen during the Super Mario Maker 2 Direct? How about Mr. Eraser? Tell us down in the comments.
E3 2019 is just weeks away, and publishers are preparing to announce and show off some of the year's biggest games. There will be a lot of surprises in store, but we already know some games that won't be there. Through expectation-setting announcements and financial disclosures, we already know a good deal about games that won't be appearing at the show.
Skull & Bones
In its financial earnings, Ubisoft said it has three unannounced games coming early next year. But at the same time, it delayed another of the games that was already known. Skull & Bones, the high seas pirate combat game, has been pushed back to 2020, and it won't be shown at this year's conference. Ubisoft told GameSpot, "For new IPs, it is common to have evolutions of creative vision and this requires more development time."
Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield
Bethesda is holding its games showcase once again this year, but two of the most intriguing teases from the last one aren't ready to show in more detail quite yet. Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield were both announced last year as long-term projects, so it's not too surprising that they aren't making an appearance--especially since Bethesda tends to focus its conferences on games that are releasing in the fall.
The Last of Us 2, Dreams, Or Anything Else From Sony
One of the biggest changes to this year's show is the total absence of PlayStation, which announced that it wouldn't be at this year's show at all. That means no press conference, no booth, and no first-party Sony games. PlayStation boss Shawn Layden said the show hasn't kept up with the needs of the industry, calling it "a trade show without a lot of trade activity." Sony has suggested it will use other avenues to make its announcements, including its new State of Play videos. The company also began to detail its plans for the next-generation PlayStation.
A New Nintendo Switch Console
Rumors have been circulating for months that Nintendo is planning at least one and possibly two hardware revisions for the Nintendo Switch. One, a simpler model to reduce costs, and the other, an upgrade for power-users. The cheaper version is still said to be aiming for this year. But Nintendo has ruled out announcing any new hardware at E3 this year, and its Nintendo Direct showcase announcement specifically says it will focus on Nintendo Switch software through 2019.
EA Games, Technically
While not pulling out of the event altogether, Electronic Arts has made itself more E3-adjacent than a part of the show proper. For the fourth straight year, EA will be holding its own event called EA Play at the Hollywood Palladium the weekend before E3. It won't be holding a formal press conference this year, but it will be holding multiple live streams that are likely to house any of the company's announcements. As always EA Play is free, and those in town for E3 are likely to attend it as well, so it's essentially just extended the event. But if you're only going to the actual show floor, you won't see any EA games represented.
Review: Silence – A Gorgeous Point-And-Click Adventure For Genre Newcomers
To slightly quote Sundar Pichai’s opening line at the Google Stadia event; ‘I don’t play point-and-click games’, but for many, Silence can become the exception and one that players new to the genre will come back to time and time again. It’s a part-spinoff, part-sequel to The Whispered World, a game released in 2010 to much acclaim, and this entry was released back in November 2016 to similar acclaim. Almost three years on, it finds itself on the Switch.
Developed by ‘Daedalic Entertainment’, you control the character Noah, where the player guides him through the land of Silence once again – a place of limbo between life and death – to rescue his younger sister Renie from the land. The game begins with them taking shelter in a bunker during an air raid, where they find a path to the Whispered World, almost similar to the realm of Narnia.
To some players, point-and-click games won’t be the type of genre that they usually go for. Similar to those who don’t queue to play the latest FIFA or Call of Duty every year. But Silence gives you a gentle introduction to the genre, and by its close, it gives you the curiosity to play games that defined the genre, such as Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, and many more.
But most of all, Silence will remind you Telltale’s ‘Batman’ series of games from this genre, and using the Joy-Con gives you a means of interacting with a world full of character and curiosity, as is standard with these games. As you control Noah, you can’t help but stop and gawp at the general loveliness of everything around you, especially when you’re playing it in docked mode. Everything has a pleasing sheen to it, as though you’re walking through a painting. Every cut-scene demands your attention, and you can’t help but just sit through and see where the story takes you. The voice acting throughout is also fantastic and serves to draw you further into the story. It’s also available in Chinese, Polish and German, if you so wish.
As this is a sequel in all but name, there are references to the previous game which may be lost on newcomers, but returnees will lap these up and be glad to discover new details in this entry. The puzzles can be challenging, and when needed, there are hints available. None of the conundrums are too tiring to solve and most were fun to complete – especially when the solution ‘clicks’ in your mind – so you won’t need a notebook by your side to figure these out. Some can even remind the player of puzzles from Onimusha and Resident Evil 3, which is no bad thing in our eyes. These only make you want to go through the puzzles with no hints whatsoever and to have the fun of discovering them on your own with no help.
But there are faults to the game, starting with the price. At £30 in the UK, it’s a big ask when you can purchase the game on Steam for half the price, or Silence and its forerunner The Whispered World in a bundle for £27. It’s another victim of the infamous ‘Switch Tax’, where games are seemingly priced high to take advantage of that nostalgia, similar to how the upcoming Resident Evil re-releases are going to be on the eShop for £30 a pop. In Silence’s defence, it is also available as a physical release that comes on a game card, but if you’re going digital route then it still stings.
While we’re picking fault, it’s worth noting that throughout the game you will come across moments where you need to select the right conversation paths, and while this makes it varied and unpredictable every time you play, it eventually does converge into the right outcome. You do feel at times that there wasn’t really a consequence to your choices, and this gives the impression of a game that’s linear in terms of story, despite suggesting otherwise. It leaves you feeling slightly disappointed, and puzzled as to why the chats branched in the first place.
As this is a point-and-click game, it’s disappointing that Daedalic didn’t take advantage of the Switch’s touch screen to help with the immersion, instead of just limiting it to your controller of choice. It would almost emulate having a mouse once again, clicking through all the objects to see how Renie reacts to them. At least in terms of performance, there’s little to grumble about; in docked and handheld mode the game plays great. Everything is at a smooth 30fps and while there’s some slight blurriness in certain scenes in handheld mode, it didn’t take away from the experience.
Conclusion
Silence is a game that deserves to be played in docked mode on the Switch. It gives you a story you’ll be immersed in, while the vibrant graphics will keep you playing for just that little bit longer. You may feel like you’re wasting time when it comes to the multiple chat options, as they always conclude at the right outcome, but your curiosity will want you to keep going to find out more about the world of Silence, and to bring Noah and Renie home, whatever it takes. The lack of touch screen control is a disappointment though, and we can’t help but feel this should have been priced a little cheaper, considering its age and how much it costs elsewhere.
Volition is seeking an experienced, creative problem-solver to join our team as a Technical Animator. You will be working in a collaborative environment of artists, designers, and programmers. You will help identify design and animation goals and then drive solutions to get the best possible performance from our characters. You will have the opportunity to push the quality of content through the continued development of cutting-edge tools and pipelines for next-gen game development. An exceptional candidate is technically savvy, has a background working with multiple disciplines to create player experiences, understands animation workflows and tech pipelines, and actively fosters a culture of helping everyone make their ideas strong.
Responsibilities:
Develop tools and pipelines in Maya/Motionbuilder with a focus on gameplay animation.
Rig character models in Maya/Motionbuilder.
Work with animations in Maya/Motionbuilder.
Work closely with animators to create compelling content that works efficiently in the engine.
Assist character art with creating content that meets the character vision.
Qualifications:
Ability to use your technical expertise to find creative solutions to challenging problems.
Ability to communicate effectively with various teams to proactively identify workflow issues, spec out the plan to solve them, and then drive that plan to a shippable state.
Experience with Python.
Experience with Unreal, Unity or another modern game engine/editor.
Pluses:
Familiarity with facial animation systems.
Experience developing tools in other DCC apps (3DS Max, Blender, etc.).
Experience with rigid/soft-body simulation in a game engine.
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Video: How RimWorld found success through ridiculous, contrarian design
In this 2017 GDC session, RimWorld creator Tynan Sylvester looks at how Ludeon Studios defined RimWorld not as a game, but as a story generator, and how forcing the team into this frame of mind opened up entirely new mechanisms for creating compelling play.
This talk looks at how, as a developer, you can find unique value in doing things that are commonly assumed to be wrong, impossible, or ridiculous. How, by strategically leaving out features, the RimWorld team made players engage with features and story elements that aren’t actually there. How they made better decisions by not planning despite everyone wanting them to plan.
And finally, how they shipped with many seemingly-critical features missing, but nobody cared, because they used a special methodology for selecting features that actually matter instead of the ones that commonly assumed to be necessary.
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.
May 9th : New Preview Delta Ring 1905 Update (1905.190507-1930)
Starting at 6:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Delta Ring will begin receiving the latest 1905 Xbox One system update (19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3052.190507-1930) Read on for more about the new features, fixes and known issues in the latest 1905 system update.
DETAILS:
OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3052.190507-1930
We have fixed the issue that some users are encountering no audio on their Xbox console after boot (no shell audio, no game audio, no app audio).
Resolved an issue in which Windows Sonic (spatial audio for headphones) spatial and non-spatial audio played out of sync. This affected games that create sophisticated compound sound effects that combine spatial and non-spatial audio.
My Games and Apps
Additional fixes for an issue in which switching from media apps such as Youtube/Hulu to a game or from a game to a media app would crash the console.
Known Issues:
Audio
Headsets are not being assigned to the users profiles and not working correctly.
My Games and Apps
We are tracking the video corruption issue with Youtube and Netflix 4k playback.
Profile Color
Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-19-2019, 07:44 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Blood & Truth Dev Happy To Be Sony's Innovator, "Excited" By PS5
London Studio is a perhaps overlooked, but definitely vital part of Sony's Worldwide Studios group. Over the years it's made games such as The Getaway, the EyeToy series, the Singstar series, Wonderbook, and PSVR Worlds. The developer is about to release Blood & Truth, the spiritual successor to PSVR Worlds' London Heist mini-game, and it says it's happy to be one of the studios at the forefront of Sony's development group.
"I think we've created a niche for ourselves in [that] we are innovators," the studio's senior principal designer, Simon Hermitage, told GameSpot. "We will take hardware and do the difficult legwork to prove that thing can work.
"That relationship goes both ways. When we get a new bit of hardware, we get to feed into its development. It's the reason why I work at London Studio, I love that side of things. It is a speciality of London Studio."
He adds: "As a first-party studio, our job is to grow that [PSVR] market. You can't look at the numbers and go, 'They're small because we just released this [for PSVR rather than for non-VR PS4 owners].' PSVR has grown consistently, and titles like Blood & Truth are so important to invest in and make so that people can see, 'Wow, that's what VR is.'"
On Blood & Truth, Hermitage claims it's the ideal next step for PSVR. "We've brought the triple-A game quality and polish--we knew that was what VR needed next: a full, feature-length, amazing blockbuster game. That's what Blood & Truth is."
Finally, when looking to the future, Hermitage is excited by the possibilities future technology will offer developers. "I was excited, as everyone was, to read [lead system architect] Mark Cerny's article with Wired, and the potential of that system means I'll be sticking around here to get my hands on that as soon as possible. We'll do what we always do: push that as hard as it can possibly go."
Sony has already confirmed that the PS5 will support PSVR, but it refused to comment further on whether it's working on a successor to its existing virtual reality headset. For now, Blood & Truth launches for PSVR on PS4 on May 28.
Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 18th)
With that lovely Super Mario Maker 2 Nintendo Direct and the surprise launch of a new Pokémon smartphone game, it’s been yet another busy week for us here at Nintendo Life. Still, it’s now time to sit back and relax for another weekend, and we’ve gathered together to speak about our gaming plans. We’d love for you to get involved with our comment and poll sections below, too. Enjoy!
Gavin Lane, staff writer
After fighting my way through Final Fight and The King of Dragons, I plan to dip back into the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle this weekend. Overcooked 2 will also feature on my weekend menu – I’m surprised how substantial the Campfire Cookoff DLC is, and there’s still a bunch of stuff in the main game that we’ve yet to polish off.
I’d also like to get that Game Boy theme in Tetris 99, although I’m not sure I’ve got the time to score the requisite number of points. If that turns out to be too stressful, I may retire to Windjammers instead. I picked it up on sale last weekend and have only been through the Arcade mode once, but it sure is addictive.
Ryan Craddock, staff writer
In all honesty, I’m not entirely sure what to play this weekend. Lucky that we run this feature every week so that I can get inspiration from you lovely lot, eh?
We’re still making our way through Yoshi’s Crafted World (although I think we’re now in the final stretch) so that will probably take up some of my time this weekend. The recent Super Mario Maker 2 Direct has got me in the mood for some classic Mario platforming, though, so maybe I’ll have to go ahead and pick out an old favourite. I never got around to buying New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe actually, and wouldn’t mind playing through that. If only these video game thingies could be a little bit cheaper!
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer
It’s been a while since I’ve really fallen down the Paladins well, but of all the shooters on Switch, this is the one I just can’t quit. Considering how well the Switch version has been supported since launch, there’s always something new for me to grind towards every time I log back in.
Outside of that, I’ll be putting the finishing touches to my For The King review and continuing my journey into the slightly wonky but oddly satisfying world of Blades of Time. And probably more Paladins. Because I’m a predictable bore.
Austin Voigt, contributing writer
This weekend, I’m excited to dig back into My Time At Portia; now that they’ve released an update the game has so much potential, but it was hard to get into it when the load times are as long as they were. Thankfully, they have now made some major improvements, and it looks to be a lot more fun.
I’m also getting back into my old 3DS library for some unknown reason, and planning to start Fantasy Life for the first time – as well as dig back into my old Pokémon games (I’ve got an appetite for Pokémon after seeing Detective Pikachu last week). All in all, should be a chill weekend of RPGs and sims.
Over two years was a small price to pay for the near flawless perfection that is Redout, my game of the week and surely my regular entertainment for the weeks to come. Just one more lap…
Liam Doolan, news reporter
I’ve refrained from playing My Time at Portia on the Switch for some time now, mostly because of the extremely long load times. Now that the Nintendo version of the game has received another update, I think this weekend might be the time to finally give it a go.
When I’m not playing this, I’ll probably be getting a more immediate gaming fix in Tetris 99. I must say, the new Game Boy theme is awesome! I love how it’s even got the old school music. For some reason, I just didn’t expect it to be so nostalgic.
Which games are you playing this weekend? (344 votes)
Video: 19 Secret Details Hidden In The Super Mario Maker 2 Direct Presentation
You’ve watched the Super Mario Maker 2 Direct multiple times over, found out a bit more thanks to the game’s eShop listing and perhaps heard more detailed explanations, so why not take the time out to listen to our lovely senior video producer, Alex Olney, talk about 19 secret details hidden in the latest presentation.
Yep, we’re referring to the interesting things that were actually featured Nintendo’s latest presentation but weren’t actually discussed by Nintendo. We’re talking about small pipes, angled pipes, Goombrats, clear conditions, the ability to dislike courses, medals – which appear to replicate an achievement system and much more. To hear what else you can expect to encounter in this upcoming sequel, make sure you watch the video above.
Did you learn anything new? Are you looking forward to the release of Super Mario Maker 2? Sound off in the comments below.
