Super Nintendo World Breaks Ground in Japan
First announced two years ago, Super Nintendo World has broken ground at Universal Studios Japan. The first commercial for the amusement park attraction has also been released, previewing what we can expect once it’s built in a few years. As expected, the teaser video is entirely computer generated, but there are some familiar sights including Bowser’s Castle. It does appear at first glance that Super Nintendo World will focus mainly on Mario and his friends, but hopefully more of Nintendo’s signature franchises are represented.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, which you can watch below, vice chairman of Universal Parks and Resorts, Mark Woodbury, confirmed there will be a Mario Kart-themed attraction. The goal is to make Super Nintendo World a “complete immersive experience,” filled with rides, restaurants, and retail stores. Woodbury was joined on stage by Universal Studios Japan CEO J.L Bonnier and Nintendo’s own Shigeru Miyamoto. All three hosts did their speeches wearing a Mario hat and gloves.
Super Nintendo World will first come to Universal Studios Japan, but there are plans to add attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood in California and Universal Studios Orlando in Florida. Look for Universal Studios Japan to open Super Nintendo World sometime by summer 2020.
You can watch a video of the groundbreaking ceremony below. Read more
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Heads to PlayStation 4 Early 2018
Square Enix has announced that Dissidia Final Fantasy NT will be heading to the PlayStation 4 early next year. The game is a port of the 2015 arcade game that was released in Japan and is developed in partnership with Team Ninja from Koei Tecmo Games. The company said Dissidia Final Fantasy NT will offer both offline and online play, with over 20 familiar Final Fantasy characters to choose from. There will also be familiar summons in the game, including Ifrit, Shiva, and Odin, adding to the intense 3 vs. 3 battles. In addition, the latest Dissidia game will bring back the series’ unique “bravery combat system.”
Producer Ichiro Hazama, director Takeo Kujiraoka, Justin Wong of Echo Fox, and K-Brad will be hosting a deep dive panel at the E3 Coliseum on Tuesday, June 13 at 3:15 PM Pacific / 6:15 PM Eastern. The E3 Coliseum will be livestreamed on both Twitch and YouTube.
View a gallery of screenshots for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT below.
Gallery: Hearthstone's Journey to Un'Goro Cards
The next Hearthstone expansion, Journey to Un’Goro will be released April 6 and will bring a total of 135 new cards to the game. Blizzard has unveiled most of the new cards, which you can see in an extensive gallery below. The expansion will introduce a couple new mechanics to the game including quests and the new keyword adapt. Quests are legendary cards that you’ll always get in your starting hand, and once played you will have to “embark” on a quest to complete what’s asked on the card. If you manage to complete your quest, a powerful reward will be available that could swing the tempo in any match.
As for adapt, players will get to choose from three possible upgrades for the minion undergoing adapt. A total of 10 adapt possibilities will be in the pool and include buffs like increases to attack and health, divine shield, taunt and more.
The release of Journey to Un’Goro will also mark the beginning of the Year of the Mammoth. That means cards from the Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament and League of Explorers will be rotated out and will only be playable in Wild. In addition, a few classic cards will be moved to wild including Azure Drake, Sylvanas Windrunner, Ragnaros the Firelord, Power Overwhelming, Ice Lance and Conceal.
Destiny 2 Arrives September 8, Also Heading to PC
Destiny 2 has been officially announced and it will be available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One starting September 8, 2017. The reveal trailer, titled “Rally the Troops,” sets the stage for the sequel, where humanity’s last safe city has fallen to an overwhelming invasion force, led by Ghaul, the imposing commander of the brutal Red Legion. In Destiny 2, players will venture to mysterious, unexplored worlds in the solar system to discover an arsenal of weapons and devastating new combat abilities as they work to defeat the Red Legion and confront Ghaul.
It appears Bungie is going for a fresh start with Destiny 2, which means nothing will likely carry over from the first game. A beta will launch this summer that will be available to everyone, but those that pre-order will have early access to the beta.
Unfortunately no gameplay was shown today, but that will come on May 18.
As expected, pre-orders are now open and there are multiple editions to choose from. Just like the first Destiny, there’s an Expansion Pass available for $34.99 that grants access to two forthcoming add-ons. The standard game costs $59.99 and can be bundled with the Expansion Pass for $89.99. There’s a Digital Deluxe Edition costing $99.99 and comes with three digital items: a legendary sword, a legendary emote and a Cabal Empire-themed emblem. The physical Limited Edition with the same $99.99 price will be exclusive to GameStop and contains the Digital Deluxe Edition’s items and will come in a Steelbook case inside a Cabal-themed box along with four physical items.
For the die-hard Destiny fans, there’s a Collector’s Edition for $249.99 and in addition to everything already mentioned in previous editions, it adds two exclusive physical items. The first is a “Frontier Kit,” with a solar blanket, solar-powered USB charger with a built-in light and a paracord. The other collectible is a “Frontier Bag,” which can be used as a backpack or messenger bag and an hold a laptop up to 15 inches in size.
Star Wars Battlefront II Debuts April 15
EA has confirmed Star Wars Battlefront II is coming, and we’ll get our first look at the game on April 15 at Star Wars Celebration. The company will be hosting a panel at 11:30 AM Pacific / 2:30 PM Eastern and will debut the first trailer then. Following the debut of the trailer, developers from DICE, Criterion and Motive will be on hand to offer a glimpse at the game.
The sequel to Star Wars Battlefront was announced in May 2016 and EA said earlier this year that Star Wars Battlefront II will be released this holiday season. Not much is known about the game, but EA has acknowledged criticisms of the first game and has suggested the sequel will be a larger, more in-depth game and will feature a single-player campaign. Expect to see content from multiple eras of the Star Wars franchise. The game will also be playable at EA Play 2017 that takes place during E3.
No confirmed platforms have been announced, but the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC are safe bets.
Xbox Games with Gold April 2017 Lineup Announced
The Xbox Games with Gold April 2017 lineup has been announced and thanks to backward compatibility, all four games will be playable on the Xbox One. Available throughout the entire month of April will be Ryse: Son of Rome (Xbox One), while The Walking Dead: Season 2 can be downloaded from April 16 to May 15 on Xbox One. Heading to both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles are Darksiders and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Darksiders will be available first from April 1 to 15, while Assassin’s Creed Revelations can be downloaded starting April 16 to 30.
In Ryse: Son of Rome, you take on the role of Roman soldier Marius Titus, who looks to avenge the slaying of his family and fight to save the Roman Empire. The immersive action-adventure story of struggle, brutality and heroism unfolds in the third-person hack-and-slash title that features fluid, combo-based combat with stunning graphics and environments.
The Walking Dead: Season 2 continues the story of Clementine and for those that have played the first season, you’ll know what to expect. Like all Telltale Games, you’ll make choices as the story unfolds across five separate episodes.
Action RPG Darksiders takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth as players seek to gain power, upgrades and wield a legendary arsenal to clear their name. And lastly, Ezio Auditore returns for one last adventure in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, following in the footsteps of the original game’s hero, Altair.
Xbox Wireless Controller Tech Series Announced
Microsoft has revealed the new Tech Series of Xbox Wireless Controllers, with the first in the series called the Xbox Wireless Controller Recon Tech Special Edition. The controller will retail for $69.99 USD and will begin shipping to retailers on April 25. According to Microsoft, development on the Xbox Wireless Controller Tech Series was inspired by military technology and performance patterns, with the team exploring concepts stemming from combat armor and sci-fi mechanical gear. The result is a premium finish with a laser-etched texture, gold accents and insignia on the front of the controller. On the back, there’s textured diamond rubberized grip for added control and comfort.
Like currently Xbox Wireless Controllers, the Xbox Wireless Controller Tech Series has improved wireless range and Bluetooth technology so it’s compatible with Windows 10 devices and even the Samsung Gear VR.
Microsoft also took the time to talk about Copilot, a new console feature that allows any two Xbox Wireless Controllers to act as if they were one. “As part of our commitment to enhancing gaming for everyone, Copilot makes Xbox One more inviting and fun for new gamers or those needing assistance – whether it’s parents who want to help their kids play, experienced gamers looking to play with novice players, or gamers who need unique configurations to play.” The Copilot feature will be available later this year through the Creators Update.
Hearthstone Heads to Un'Goro for Next Expansion
Journey to Un’Goro has been announced as Hearthstone‘s next expansion as players will join Elise Starseeker and her junior explorers on an expedition into the uncharted territory of Un’Goro crater. A total of 135 new cards will be added as part of the expansion with several new mechanics. The new Adapt keyword will allow a minion to gain new properties when played. It’s similar to the discover mechanic, where players get to choose from one of three options to immediately buff the minion. There are 10 Adaptions in total to choose from.
Another new mechanic is the addition of Quest cards, which are Legendary so you can only have one in your deck. A Quest card always appears in your opening hand and each Quest will have prerequisites listed on it. If you are able to complete them, you’ll be granted incredible rewards. The Quest card Blizzard showed off in the announcement trailer was “Awaken the Makers,” costing one mana with the Quest to summon 7 Deathrattle minions. Once the Quest is completed, you are rewarded with Amara, Warden of Hope a five-cost, 8/8 Legendary that reads “Taunt, Battlecry: Set your hero’s Health to 40.”
Like previous expansions, you can pre-purchase 50 Journey to Un’Goro packs for $49.99 and receive the Fossil card back. No exact release date for the expansion was announced but it will arrive in early April, coinciding with The Year of the Mammoth.
More card reveals for Journey to Un’Goro will begin on March 17.
Persona 5 Takes an Even Darker Turn in The Velvet Room
Persona 5 will finally head to the U.S. April 4, and Atlus has released a new trailer showing off the familiar Velvet Room. Once again players will be greeted by Igor, who is joined by Caroline and Justine, when it comes time to upgrading and fusing personas. But things are a bit different this time around as it gets really dark when it comes to messing with your personas. The theme of sacrifice will play a major role, like when you strengthen a persona, it involves sacrificing (hanging) another one to it. Players will also be able to put personas in lockdown so they can learn to take less damage from their weakness, as well as transform them in an electric chair into a useful piece of equipment or item.
Things get really morbid when it comes to fusing personas. Fusion allows personas to be joined together to create a new, hopefully more powerful, one. In Persona 5 there will be three ways to fuse personas. Basic fusion lets any two personas be fused together, while advanced fusion is preset and require three or more. The third method is network fusion, which allows the player to fuse their persona with a random online player’s persona. So what’s morbid? Well, to fuse personas, they will have to go under the guillotine and be executed. And to think there was a time where we thought things couldn’t get darker than in Persona 3.
Like previous Persona games, players will be able to access the Velvet Room in a variety of ways in Persona 5: during the day or night, as well as during Palace runs through a prison door-looking portal.
View a gallery of screenshots highlighting the Velvet Room in Persona 5 below.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Arrives June 30
Activision has announced Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will head to the PlayStation 4 on June 30, 2017. More details about the upcoming trilogy were shared on the PlayStation Blog, including what has changed compared to the original games: “The addition of real-time lighting in a PBR (Physically Based Rendering) engine, along with an increase in texture size, can sometimes make our environments look different than the originals,” said art lead Dustin King. “Generally, while we strive to recreate each level so it looks and feels like the original, we also want to make sure that environments are fun, colorful, and read well in the fast-paced action with the addition of the new technology we are using.”
And for those still debating whether this is a remaster or a remake, the company clarified that it’s a AAA remaster. “We’re building it using the original level geometry so that it plays as close to the original as possible,” added game director Dan Tanguay. “We’ve also referred to this as a remaster plus, as we are adding new features that we think the fans are going to love!”
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy includes Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and will be priced at $39.99. Expect to see new lighting, animations, cinematics enhanced for 4K and the PS4 Pro, as well as a fully remastered soundtrack. The trilogy will also have full analog stick support and new unified save and checkpoint systems.