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Nintendo’s Updated Switch and 3DS Infographic Shows Off Winter Line-Up

We’re well and truly into the silly – and also fun – season of retail game releases, as publishers scramble to claim a big slice of the Holiday shopping pie. Nintendo is in on the act too, and over the weekend its European subsidiary released an updated infographic that shows the variety of Switch and 3DS games we had during Autumn / Fall, but also those still to come through the Winter.

It promotes a few select third-party games, too, with both systems having some major arrivals around the corner. Check it out below.

There are certainly some big names on the way over the next few months; which games are on your wishlist?

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Legendary Game Universes and Esports Superstars Take Center Stage at BlizzCon® 2017

Blizzard Entertainment’s annual community celebration showcases new content for the company’s blockbuster games

Dominating runs by world-class competitors in Overwatch®, StarCraft®II, Hearthstone ®, Heroes of the Storm®, and World of Warcraft®esports thrilled live attendees and viewers around the globe

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– At BlizzCon® 2017, more than 30,000 players gathered to experience the latest updates to their favorite Blizzard games and cheer on top esports competitors, with millions more joining online. Over two days packed with developer panels, friendly competition, and live entertainment, the Blizzard community learned about and went hands-on with new heroes, new gameplay updates, and new expansions coming to the company’s blockbuster franchises.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171104005085/en/

BlizzCon 2017 is Blizzard Entertainment's epic annual community celebration. (Photo: Business Wire)

BlizzCon 2017 is Blizzard Entertainment’s epic annual community celebration. (Photo: Business Wire)

Attendees and viewers also witnessed the dramatic conclusions to three esports championships and three exhibition-style competitions:

StarCraft®II World Championship Series Global Finals

Winner: Rogue

With two championship titles already under his belt in 2017, Rogue arrived on the global stage at BlizzCon as a favorite to win the whole tournament. Once he got warmed up in the grand final against soO, he showed the world he definitely deserves the title of WCS Global Champion with a 4-2 series win.

Heroes of the Storm®Global Championship Finals

Winning team: MVP Black

MVP Black and Fnatic met in the final match of the HGC Finals after both teams moved past the semis with 3-0 wins. When the dust settled, it was MVP Black standing tall over the Swedish powerhouse with a 3-1 victory after a barnburner of a finale. MVP Black’s unwavering determination and dedication to their craft was enough to secure them their first trophy at BlizzCon.

World of Warcraft®Arena World Championship

Winning team: ABC

The European streak continues as ABC sweeps Panda Global in the most decisive championship match in the history of the tournament. Working against a hostile crowd, ABC triumphed behind the Arcane Mage play of Alex ‘Alec’ Sheldrick to bring the WoW Arena trophy to Europe for the fourth straight year.

Overwatch®World Cup

Winning nation: South Korea

South Korea was always expected to be the “final boss” at BlizzCon—and runner-up Canada fought valiantly in taking a single map—but in the end the story finished as expected. Ryujehong and company’s sudden vulnerability didn’t make a difference as South Korea goes two-for-two in Overwatch World Cup Championships.

Hearthstone®Inn-vitational

Winning team: Grimestreet Grifters

After two days of frenetic and varied play among the 12 community personalities, the Grimestreet Grifters—comprised of Andrey ‘Reynad’ Yanyuk, Hakjun ‘Kranich’ Baek, and Pathra Cadness—emerged victorious. The best-of-11 finals saw the format of each game drawn from a sealed envelope, and players were individually eliminated from the stage until the Grifters claimed the trophy 6-5 over the Chillblade Crusaders.

StarCraft: Remastered Ultimate Title Fight

Winner: Bisu

Although Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong and Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong’s lengthy careers largely overlapped, they hardly ever played each other outside of team leagues. That changed when the two StarCraft legends met in the Ultimate Title Fight, a best-of-five showmatch with $25,000 on the line. In the fifth and final game, Bisu seemed to get a read on Jaedong’s aggressive strategy, and managed to hold him off to take the series 3-2.

In addition to all the epic esports action, Blizzard made several major announcements for its games at the show, including:

World of Warcraft

  • Battle for Azeroth™—In the seventh expansion to World of Warcraft, the war between the Horde and the Alliance reignites as players embark on a journey to recruit new allies, race to claim the world’s mightiest resources, and fight on several fronts to determine which faction will lead Azeroth into its uncertain future.
  • WoW®Classic—In addition to a new expansion, Blizzard also announced early plans to develop a gameplay experience that recaptures players’ first journeys into the original World of Warcraft.

Hearthstone

  • Kobolds & Catacombs™—A new Hearthstone expansion, coming in December, will bring players down into the dungeons beneath Azeroth—and equip them with 135 new cards.
  • Dungeon Runs—Kobolds & Catacombs brings with it a brand-new, highly replayable single-player game mode for Hearthstone featuring challenging, high-stakes subterranean journeys inspired by the classic fantasy dungeon crawl. Dungeon Runs are free for all players; no pre-built decks are required for entry.
  • New Legendary Weapons—For the first time in Hearthstone, Legendary weapons are coming – and every class will get one!
  • Free Legendary Cards—To celebrate the new expansion, all players will receive a free legendary minion, Marin the Fox, on November 6, as well as a free random legendary weapon for logging in when Kobolds & Catacombs launches in December.
  • Eager treasure seekers can pre-purchase the new expansion card packs in a special 50-pack bundle for $49.99 and receive the jewel-encrusted “For the Hoard!” card back for free!

StarCraft II

  • StarCraft II going free-to-play—Starting November 14, players will get free access to the acclaimed Wings of Liberty® campaign, ranked ladder play, and all Co-Op Commanders up to level five.
  • Mira Han and Matt Horner—the newest Co-op Commander for StarCraft II’s popular Co-Op mode is actually two commanders in one: command a devastating mixture of high-powered Dominion air units as Matt Horner and fast-moving ground units as Mira Han.
  • War Chest Season 2—Following the success of this year’s War Chest, StarCraft II will once again offer a fresh batch of seasonal content for players in support of StarCraft II esports.

Heroes of the Storm

  • Hanzo and Alexstrasza—Two new heroes, both dragons in their own right, will bring new and dramatically different styles of play to the Nexus in Blizzard’s fast-paced MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, later this year.
  • 2018 Gameplay Update—Several in-game changes are coming to Heroes of the Storm in the near future, including a wider field-of-view camera, new Mercenary mechanics, and other core gameplay updates.
  • Voice Chat—Players in a party will automatically use Blizzard Voice Chat (unless they opt-out) and teams will have the choice to opt-in.
  • Performance-Based Matchmaking—Lets the player’s personal performance in matches directly influence their matchmaking rating whether they win or lose.

Overwatch

  • Moira—A new support hero, the life-draining geneticist named Moira, will soon be joining the roster of Overwatch, Blizzard’s acclaimed team-based shooter.
  • Blizzard World—An amusement park celebrating the worlds of Diablo®, StarCraft, and Warcraft® serves as the location for Overwatch‘s newest map.
  • “Honor and Glory”—The latest in the acclaimed series of animated shorts released for Overwatch takes viewers into Reinhardt’s past as he wrestles with a decision of whether to answer Winston’s call to join the newly reforming Overwatch.
  • Overwatch League—The inaugural season’s 12 city-based teams will sport in-game home and away uniforms and face off in the league’s Atlantic and Pacific divisions. League matches will be played over four days each week of the regular season, which starts January 10, 2018. Watch on Overwatchleague.com and on the forthcoming Overwatch League companion app.

For more information on the celebration of games, players, and esports excellence at BlizzCon 2017, or to watch VODs of the action with the BlizzCon 2017 Virtual Ticket, visit www.blizzcon.com.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes twenty-one #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Blizzard Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.

*Sales and/or downloads. Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding content for the company’s games and esports programs are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Rob Hilburger, 949-242-8404
VP, Global Communications
rhilburger@blizzard.com
or
Andrew Reynolds, 949-955-1380 x14301
PR Director
areynolds@blizzard.com
or
David Gordon, 949-955-1380 x13506
PR Manager
dgordon@blizzard.com

Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

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ADDING MULTIMEDIA Legendary Game Universes and Esports Superstars Take Center Stage at BlizzCon® 2017

Blizzard Entertainment’s annual community celebration showcases new content for the company’s blockbuster games

Dominating runs by world-class competitors in Overwatch®, StarCraft®II, Hearthstone ®, Heroes of the Storm®, and World of Warcraft®esports thrilled live attendees and viewers around the globe

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– At BlizzCon® 2017, more than 30,000 players gathered to experience the latest updates to their favorite Blizzard games and cheer on top esports competitors, with millions more joining online. Over two days packed with developer panels, friendly competition, and live entertainment, the Blizzard community learned about and went hands-on with new heroes, new gameplay updates, and new expansions coming to the company’s blockbuster franchises.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171104005085/en/

BlizzCon 2017 opens its doors to the Blizzard gaming community. (Photo: Business Wire)

BlizzCon 2017 opens its doors to the Blizzard gaming community. (Photo: Business Wire)

Attendees and viewers also witnessed the dramatic conclusions to three esports championships and three exhibition-style competitions:

StarCraft®II World Championship Series Global Finals

Winner: Rogue

With two championship titles already under his belt in 2017, Rogue arrived on the global stage at BlizzCon as a favorite to win the whole tournament. Once he got warmed up in the grand final against soO, he showed the world he definitely deserves the title of WCS Global Champion with a 4-2 series win.

Heroes of the Storm®Global Championship Finals

Winning team: MVP Black

MVP Black and Fnatic met in the final match of the HGC Finals after both teams moved past the semis with 3-0 wins. When the dust settled, it was MVP Black standing tall over the Swedish powerhouse with a 3-1 victory after a barnburner of a finale. MVP Black’s unwavering determination and dedication to their craft was enough to secure them their first trophy at BlizzCon.

World of Warcraft®Arena World Championship

Winning team: ABC

The European streak continues as ABC sweeps Panda Global in the most decisive championship match in the history of the tournament. Working against a hostile crowd, ABC triumphed behind the Arcane Mage play of Alex ‘Alec’ Sheldrick to bring the WoW Arena trophy to Europe for the fourth straight year.

Overwatch®World Cup

Winning nation: South Korea

South Korea was always expected to be the “final boss” at BlizzCon—and runner-up Canada fought valiantly in taking a single map—but in the end the story finished as expected. Ryujehong and company’s sudden vulnerability didn’t make a difference as South Korea goes two-for-two in Overwatch World Cup Championships.

Hearthstone®Inn-vitational

Winning team: Grimestreet Grifters

After two days of frenetic and varied play among the 12 community personalities, the Grimestreet Grifters—comprised of Andrey ‘Reynad’ Yanyuk, Hakjun ‘Kranich’ Baek, and Pathra Cadness—emerged victorious. The best-of-11 finals saw the format of each game drawn from a sealed envelope, and players were individually eliminated from the stage until the Grifters claimed the trophy 6-5 over the Chillblade Crusaders.

StarCraft: Remastered Ultimate Title Fight

Winner: Bisu

Although Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong and Kim “Bisu” Taek Yong’s lengthy careers largely overlapped, they hardly ever played each other outside of team leagues. That changed when the two StarCraft legends met in the Ultimate Title Fight, a best-of-five showmatch with $25,000 on the line. In the fifth and final game, Bisu seemed to get a read on Jaedong’s aggressive strategy, and managed to hold him off to take the series 3-2.

In addition to all the epic esports action, Blizzard made several major announcements for its games at the show, including:

World of Warcraft

  • Battle for Azeroth™—In the seventh expansion to World of Warcraft, the war between the Horde and the Alliance reignites as players embark on a journey to recruit new allies, race to claim the world’s mightiest resources, and fight on several fronts to determine which faction will lead Azeroth into its uncertain future.
  • WoW®Classic—In addition to a new expansion, Blizzard also announced early plans to develop a gameplay experience that recaptures players’ first journeys into the original World of Warcraft.

Hearthstone

  • Kobolds & Catacombs™—A new Hearthstone expansion, coming in December, will bring players down into the dungeons beneath Azeroth—and equip them with 135 new cards.
  • Dungeon Runs—Kobolds & Catacombs brings with it a brand-new, highly replayable single-player game mode for Hearthstone featuring challenging, high-stakes subterranean journeys inspired by the classic fantasy dungeon crawl. Dungeon Runs are free for all players; no pre-built decks are required for entry.
  • New Legendary Weapons—For the first time in Hearthstone, Legendary weapons are coming – and every class will get one!
  • Free Legendary Cards—To celebrate the new expansion, all players will receive a free legendary minion, Marin the Fox, on November 6, as well as a free random legendary weapon for logging in when Kobolds & Catacombs launches in December.
  • Eager treasure seekers can pre-purchase the new expansion card packs in a special 50-pack bundle for $49.99 and receive the jewel-encrusted “For the Hoard!” card back for free!

StarCraft II

  • StarCraft II going free-to-play—Starting November 14, players will get free access to the acclaimed Wings of Liberty® campaign, ranked ladder play, and all Co-Op Commanders up to level five.
  • Mira Han and Matt Horner—the newest Co-op Commander for StarCraft II’s popular Co-Op mode is actually two commanders in one: command a devastating mixture of high-powered Dominion air units as Matt Horner and fast-moving ground units as Mira Han.
  • War Chest Season 2—Following the success of this year’s War Chest, StarCraft II will once again offer a fresh batch of seasonal content for players in support of StarCraft II esports.

Heroes of the Storm

  • Hanzo and Alexstrasza—Two new heroes, both dragons in their own right, will bring new and dramatically different styles of play to the Nexus in Blizzard’s fast-paced MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, later this year.
  • 2018 Gameplay Update—Several in-game changes are coming to Heroes of the Storm in the near future, including a wider field-of-view camera, new Mercenary mechanics, and other core gameplay updates.
  • Voice Chat—Players in a party will automatically use Blizzard Voice Chat (unless they opt-out) and teams will have the choice to opt-in.
  • Performance-Based Matchmaking—Lets the player’s personal performance in matches directly influence their matchmaking rating whether they win or lose.

Overwatch

  • Moira—A new support hero, the life-draining geneticist named Moira, will soon be joining the roster of Overwatch, Blizzard’s acclaimed team-based shooter.
  • Blizzard World—An amusement park celebrating the worlds of Diablo®, StarCraft, and Warcraft® serves as the location for Overwatch‘s newest map.
  • “Honor and Glory”—The latest in the acclaimed series of animated shorts released for Overwatch takes viewers into Reinhardt’s past as he wrestles with a decision of whether to answer Winston’s call to join the newly reforming Overwatch.
  • Overwatch League—The inaugural season’s 12 city-based teams will sport in-game home and away uniforms and face off in the league’s Atlantic and Pacific divisions. League matches will be played over four days each week of the regular season, which starts January 10, 2018. Watch on Overwatchleague.com and on the forthcoming Overwatch League companion app.

For more information on the celebration of games, players, and esports excellence at BlizzCon 2017, or to watch VODs of the action with the BlizzCon 2017 Virtual Ticket, visit www.blizzcon.com.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes twenty-one #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Blizzard Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.

*Sales and/or downloads. Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding content for the company’s games and esports programs are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Rob Hilburger, 949-242-8404
VP, Global Communications
rhilburger@blizzard.com
or
Andrew Reynolds, 949-955-1380 x14301
PR Director
areynolds@blizzard.com
or
David Gordon, 949-955-1380 x13506
PR Manager
dgordon@blizzard.com

Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

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Review: Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)

HAMSTER’s ACA Neo Geo series has brought a number of one-on-one brawlers to the Switch, and now here’s another one. The first Art of Fighting game may have been visually impressive for its time, but it was lacking in the gameplay department meaning there was little reason to pick it up on Switch. Laughing in the face of sequential order, HAMSTER now skipped the second game in the series to bring Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior to the eShop. That’s no bad thing, however, as it improves on the formula considerably.

The visual presentation of Art of Fighting 3 is superb. The gritty look of the first two games has been ditched in favour of an animated one that works wonderfully thanks to good detail in the surroundings and the smooth animation of the fighters. The zooming camera (based on the relative positions of the fighters) still features – which enhances the experience – and stages are varied with good touches such as scenery distorted behind flowing water, grass gently swaying in the wind and impressive shadow effects in one particular level.

There’s a good range of sound effects along with rocking and jazz-like music tracks that add to the atmosphere, but the most effective stage from an audio point of view is the one that takes place in a street some distance away from carnival-like celebrations. Lights and fireworks can be seen far away as you fight in a quiet street (a lone dejected-looking man at a bar the only other visible person), and here the music is provided by a distant band, rather than featuring prominently in the sound mix.

As before there is a button for punch and a button for kick, with a third button providing strong attacks (what these are depend on your current position). Once again your ability to perform special moves is dependent on your spirit gauge, but thankfully it doesn’t decrease too much with performed specials, though should your opponent taunt you it does take a big chunk away. You can of course recharge it by holding down an attack button.

The lack of attack buttons could be limiting, but there are still a number of moves you can perform and the new rush attacks add to the excitement of battle; these are performed by simply holding forwards and mashing the punch or kick button. Should you find a good opening these can prove to be very effective, particularly as you can also combine these with special moves.

Your fighter has a number of other moves too, such as a throw and the ability to attack your opponent when they are lying on the floor. Attacks can be sidestepped and with careful timing of your moves you can juggle your opponent in midair to deal lots of damage. It feels quite different to other games, more Virtua Fighter than a typical 2D brawler. Should you be the one who has received a lot of damage you can turn the tide of battle with a devastating Desperation move when low on energy. All of these elements fit together well, with fast paced and smooth gameplay that leads to plenty of enjoyable fighting.

The only returning characters are Ryo and Robert (plus Yuri as an NPC) and disappointingly they are joined by just eight others. There’s some good variety in the fighters however, with various spinning, jumping and projectile attacks giving a different feel to each of them, as does the fact some have weapons. Sword-wielding Sinclair and hulking end-of-game boss Wyler are not visible on the character select screen, but picking them is simply a matter of pushing the cursor past the edges of the screen.

Aside from Sinclair and Wyler each character has an ending, so there’s some replayability in trying to see them all. On the default difficulty setting (4 of 8) this is not too difficult, as whilst the fights get tougher as you progress there’s a lot of opportunity for rush attacks, a very useful strategy to master. Increase the difficulty, however, and the CPU opposition will counter many of your button-mashing attempts at victory, providing a tougher challenge as you learn new ways to fight.

As standard, games released in the ACA Neo Geo series come with some nifty features such as button remapping and the ability to add scanlines (and even a scrolling video line) to the image for that old-school CRT look. There’s also two extra ways to play the games thanks to the one-credit Hi Score and five-minute Caravan modes. Typically you try and see how many points you can rack up with these limitations and then replay to do better as you try and move up the online leaderboards. These modes work better in some games than others, and in Art of Fighting 3 they work very well indeed.

When playing a one-on-one brawler the focus is more on winning than on how many points you’ve got. SNK seemed to realise this and here it’s ditched the score and added a timer to keep track of how quickly you can clear the game. The faster you are, the higher you are on the game’s leaderboard and subsequently this has had an effect on the additional ACA modes.

For example, the five minute Caravan mode now challenges you to see how many wins you can get in that period. Is it possible to clear the game in that time? At the time of writing the best anyone has managed is seven wins. With only nine fights in the game, possible placements on the leaderboard are limited, but there’s an addictive quality when you miss out on a win by a few seconds, then go again as you hope to manage it the next time around to increase that win tally.

Hi score mode is simply about clearing the game as quickly as possible, with the 1-credit limit adding some additional challenge. There’s also an online leaderboard for the regular arcade mode, and whilst that too is about beating the game quickly it allows continues. As continuing sets the timer back to what it was at going into the fight it doesn’t matter if you mess up as (unlike in Hi score) you have another attempt at it rather than heading back to the beginning. If looking to set super-quick times in the arcade mode you can also dive into the options menu to set the game to single-round brawling.

Trying to improve your placement on the leaderboards adds a lot of replayability to the game, but the multiplayer is another reason to keep returning. As always a second player can buy into the arcade mode at any time and challenge you to a fight, and here the game shines as you attempt to string combos together against each other, dodge attacks and look for new ways to be victorious. The only downside being the paltry ten-character lineup that is considerably less than other games, including some HAMSTER has already brought to the eShop.

Conclusion

Characters would continue to turn up in the King of Fighters games, but this was the final instalment of the Art of Fighting series – and it goes out on a high. Despite the limited three attack button setup there’s a lot of enjoyable and fluid fighting provided thanks to the rush attacks combining well with special moves. Juggling and dodging attacks adds to the fun and the animated look of the game works well. The low number of fighters included is disappointing, but trying to set a new fast time is addictive, particularly with the standard ACA online leaderboards. The first game may have been one to skip, but Art of Fighting 3: Path of the Warrior is a welcome fighting option for the eShop.

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Your Joy-Con Can Now Have a D-Pad if You’re Brave Enough

Since time immemorial, or at least since the console was announced, many Switch fanciers have yearned for a traditional D-Pad on their left Joy-Con. The button alternative makes sense for using the controllers on their side, but it can be frustrating to use for many of the 2D games available.

Nintendo hasn’t offered a solution, but now a third party has leapt into the fray. You may well remember our custom white Joy-Con mod from a while ago, and now that same manufacturer is offering a version with a real bonefide D-Pad.

It’s not the cheapest solution, and it does require a degree of confidence as you’ll need to install it all yourself, but if you’re bold enough it may well be worth it.

That is, of course, providing that the build quality is up to snuff. These products live or die by how well they’re made and handle, and we’re unable to attest how they perform, so picking one up is a bit of a gamble.

You can grab them in various colours, but they’re currently only available in the US unless you want to import them directly from China. Is this something you’d be keen to explore? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition Update Tackles Load Times and Framerate on Switch

Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition is a solid Switch iteration of a fantastic game. However, it arguably isn’t ‘definitive’ – for one thing it lacks a few features from other versions that could have been possible and, oddly, had some minor performance and loading quirks at launch. Our chums at Digital Foundry explained it nicely.

It seems the issues could be linked to the aggressive compression that Ubisoft undertook, which made it less than 3GB and – ironically – smaller than the Wii U version. Based on what we know of the retail model around the Switch, Ubisoft may have done this to cheap out and use 4GB cartridges, as the bigger the capacity of the bespoke media the more it costs publishers; yes, it’s becoming a familiar tale.

In any case, this compression seemed to lead to the Switch version having longer load times than any other version, and even brief framerate issues as the game unpacked assets. Ubisoft has finally address this, issuing an update and the following patch notes.

We appreciate your patience concerning performance issues that some of you may have encountered while playing Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition on the Nintendo Switch. This latest patch, available for download now, reduces loading times between levels and fixes frame rate-related issues as well.

It’s good to see those improvements coming into place, and it’ll be interesting to see whether the patch fully resolves the minor but noticeable issues with the launch build.

If you have Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition on Switch let us know if you’ve noticed any differences.

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One modder is on a quest to preserve Nintendo’s forgotten Flash games

A game maker and modder who operates under the name “Skelux” is in the middle of a quest to find and preserve “ancient relics”: the many Flash games Nintendo once made and hosted on its website.

As Motherboard aptly points out, it’s an important effort to recover some of what is being lost amid the slow death of Flash.

Game devs who never saw these games, which were published as ads and companion pieces for everything from Metroid Prime to Odama, can get a quick overview of the project by watching Skelux’s video on the project. 

You can also browse a list of games Skelux has recently created which both links to playable versions of games that have been rebuilt (often, evidently, by canny use of the Waybck Machine) and lists the pieces of games he’s still missing.

Early last month, he put out a call for help that includes promise of a cash bounty ($50 for a complete game) for assistance in finding Flash games which were used to promote Nintendo games and are now offline.

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For Honor Free Weekend Coming Next Weekend Ahead of Season 4 Launch

Two dangerous new heroes are coming to shake up the battlefields of For Honor when Season Four, Order & Havoc, launches on November 14. The nimble Aramusha will join the Samurai faction, and the ferocious Shaman joins the Vikings, and each hero brings new fighting styles and new strategies into play. But that’s not all that’s coming in the new season: two new maps and two new modes will be free to all players, offering new proving grounds where warriors can test their might. And to get you ready to take on these challenges, For Honor will host a free weekend beginning at 9 a.m. PT on November 9, and continuing until 11:59 p.m. PT on November 12 for all players with an Xbox Live Gold membership.

Let’s start with the heroes. The Aramusha is a hybrid hero, wielding two katanas to strike swiftly and deflect their opponents’ blows. Donning an iconic low-brimmed hat, the Aramusha is quick to punish any opponents who misstep. The Shaman wields two blades, a hatchet and a dagger, and uses them with deadly precision. She’s an assassin hero, and her speed is complemented by an aggressive moveset that sees her pouncing on enemies like a wild beast and gaining strength when her opponents are actively bleeding. Both heroes will be released for Season Pass holders on November 14, and will be available for all other players to unlock on November 21 for 15,000 Steel each.

Two free new modes are also coming with Order & Havoc. Tribute is a 4v4 objective-based mode, in which players fight to claim three offerings and return them to their team’s shrines. Each of your three shrines will activate a different buff for your team, and choosing which shrine to place your offering in can tip the scales for your team. Will you juice your team’s attack power? Bestow a regenerating shield on your allies? Or reveal the enemy players’ positions for your whole team to see? You’ll need to defend your shrines, hunt down offerings in the field, and steal from the enemy team’s shrines if you hope to claim victory in Tribute.

For Honor will also continue to expand its ranked competition with the addition of Ranked Dominion mode, which will be available following the launch of Season 4. Now you and your team of heroes can rise through the ranks and earn glory for all to see (as well as some sweet in-game loot to boot). The new heroes, Tribute mode, and two new maps (Market Town and The Gauntlet) all arrive with the launch of Order & Havoc on November 14.

To get you warmed up for the new season of For Honor, you can play for free from November 9 to November 12. This free weekend includes access to all the content released for the game thus far, which means every multiplayer mode (playable versus human players or bots), the full campaign (playable solo or with a co-op ally), and the chance to build up any of the game’s 16 heroes, including the new heroes released in previous seasons (who are unlockable for 15,000 Steel each). Haven’t chain-hooked an opponent as the Shinobi or brandished the brutal claymore of the Highlander? You’ll be able to do so from November 9-12, providing you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.

And if you want to stay in the fight for the launch of Season Four, Ubisoft will be offering discounts of up to 60% off digital For Honor content through the Microsoft Store. To get a taste of the new Heroes and new modes in action, tune in to the Season 4 Livestream Reveal on twitch.tv/forhonorgame on November 11.

Now’s the best time to sharpen your swords and wade into the fray. See you on the battlefield!

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New Preview Alpha Build – 11/03/17

Starting at 6 p.m. PT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Update Alpha ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1711.171031-1906). This update, which includes enhancements to Home and Guide, will be mandatory for all Alpha users by tomorrow, Nov. 4, at 1 a.m. PT. Read on for a list of features, fixes and known issues in the latest system update.

New Features:

Home

  • In addition to games and friends, you can now add club blocks to Home. You can add them from both the Guide and from the club itself. We’ve also made it easier to explore additional types of blocks at the bottom of Home by adding a new section under “Add More.”

Mini Game Hub in Guide

  • We’ve added miniature Game Hubs for your most recently used games to the Guide. You can now access some of the great content from game hubs without having to leave the action.

Fixes:

Blu-Ray Player

  • Resolved an issue which sometimes caused the Blu-Ray Player to freeze when playing 3D Blu-Ray content.
  • Resolved an issue which sometimes caused corrupted graphics when playing 3D Blu-Ray content.
  • Resolved an issue which sometimes caused a black screen when playing 3D Blu-Ray content.
  • Miscellaneous fixes and improvements for Blu-Ray Player.

Minecraft

  • Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented players from converting worlds.

Known Issues:

Avatars on Home

  • Users can now represent themselves as an Avatar on Home by changing their settings. To do so, simply navigate to My profile > Customize profile > Show my avatar.

Tournaments

  • The left and right navigation for selecting date and time during Tournament creation is currently reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
  • Left and right navigation in Tournament twists is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
  • Left and right navigation in the bracket view of Tournaments is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.

 

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Blizzard is making StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty free-to-play

Today Blizzard Entertainment announced that it will be making its real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty freely available to download and play on November 14th 

This has the potential to rejuvenate the StarCraft II community, especially those who still play the game’s multiplayer component, as anyone who downloads Wings of Liberty as a free game will have full access to up-to-date versions of StarCraft II ranked multiplayer and its co-op mode.

It may also help juice sales for Blizzard, since StarCraft II spans three core installments (Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void) and last year’s Nova Covert Ops mission packs. While Wings of Liberty will go free on the 14th, players will still have to pay to access the other installments. 

However, people who already own Wings of Liberty will be able to download Heart of the Swarm for free for a limited time (between November 8th and December 8th, specifically), and all StarCraft II owners will get a smattering of cosmetic DLC come the 14th.

StarCraft II will be joining its predecessor amid the ranks of games Blizzard offers for free, including the F2P digital card game Hearthstone, which has proven incredibly successful since its debut in 2014.