Author: sick skills

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Neon Chrome Will Bring Twin-Stick Cyberpunk Shooting to the Switch

With the rapid expansion of the Switch eShop we’re gradually seeing more genres and variety. We’ve had a few top-down shooters of various styles, for example, and next week Neon Chrome will add itself to the list.

Developed by 10tons Ltd, it’s a stylised title with procedural generation; a trailer and details are below.

Neon Chrome is a top-down twin stick shooter with a science fiction setting. Each level is procedurally generated, meaning levels throughout the game will be unique on every play session. The game features intense gunfights, destructible environments, and light role playing elements such as permanent statistics upgrades, better weapons, cybernetic enhancements and different character classes.

Features:

  • Shoot through walls, make rooms explode, and obliterate whole floors
  • Explore procedural levels with endless variety
  • Defeat bosses in hand-crafted boss fights
  • Unlock new abilities, enhancements and weapons
  • Install enhancements and upgrade your weapons

It’ll arrive on 12th October with a confirmed price of $14.99USD for North America. Will you be tempted to give this a try?

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This Week At Bungie – 10/05/2017

This week at Bungie, we know the score.

The banners that fly in the Tower tell a truth that we have all known for some time: Dead Orbit is the faction that rules the hearts of the most Guardians. Do they all think they look better in black? Or are they just a generally moody bunch? We may never know the true motivations that sent them into the wild to express their loyalty through action.

What we know for certain is that Arach Jalaal is the champion of this first Faction Rally. His victory was not undisputed. Each faction put some respectable points on the board. Once the 61 Million reward packages were counted, Dead Orbit emerged the most profitable faction by a margin of more than 2 Million. New Monarchy was a close second. Future War Cult was an even closer third.

As promised, Dead Orbit has a prize on offer. If you pledged to them, it will be a steal. If you did not, but you still gotta have it, they’re about to steal from you. That will be the price of your treachery.

Faction Rally will return. New Monarchy and Future War Cult, we’ll let you know when you’ll have your chance for revenge! Next week, however, we’re clearing space in the Tower for another special guest.

The Return of the Iron Lord

The Red War scattered the heroes of humanity across the solar system. One by one, they have been returning to the City. Now, Lord Saladin will hold court and reward the brave.

Begins:  October 10, 2AM Pacific

Ends:  October 17, 2AM Pacific

The game is Control.

As the first Faction Rally comes to an end, the Iron Lords are hosting the next ritual. Their special event has undergone some changes. The Iron Banner is still your chance to stand and be proven in the fires of friendly competition.

What’s different?

  • Combat will be between two teams of four players
  • Your fighting abilities, not your power levels, will decide the outcome
  • Bounties and Ranks have been replaced with an Iron Banner Engram

How can you compete?

  • Complete the Destiny 2 campaign – the only way to reach the Tower
  • Visit Lord Saladin in the Tower to begin the Iron Banner Quest
  • Fight in the Iron Banner playlist with Quickplay modes and matchmaking

What’s in it for you?

  • Earn Iron Banner Tokens in every match (earn more if you win)
  • Daily and Season* Milestones that track your progress to glory
  • Claim brand new armor wrought in the forges of the Iron Lords

Decorate yourself as a master of your competitive spirit. Form up into a Fireteam or let the fates choose your teammates.

You’re the Best… Around!

Combat against other Guardians not your thing? The ultimate PVE challenge also arrives in your Director on Tuesday at 10AM Pacific. The morning after the weekly reset begins a new invitation from Calus to join him for the Prestige Raid.

We do not expect everyone to be successful in completing this activity. Mechanical changes to the encounters are minimal, but they are there. The Prestige Raid is about mastering a more punishing sandbox. Our goal is not to provide a boon to your character progression, but there are unique rewards to help you shine. Consider this your invitation to prove to the world that you are among the very best of the Raiders who overlook the City.

World First will be counted. We can tell you no more.

Good luck!

Their Stage – Our Story

*There is that word again: Season.

There is a mention of seasons when you inspect your Clan. Now, we’re talking about it on the blog. What does it all mean?

We’ll be answering that question, and more like it, at TwitchCon.

Friday, October 20, 4:30PM Pacific

What do Seasons mean in Destiny 2?

What will change from season to season?

How many seasons can we expect?

When does Season Two begin?

The session will be streamed (I mean, of course it will be streamed, it’s TwitchCon), so everyone can tune in and see what we have planned to keep the Destiny community engaged. When the time comes, pile into the theater or click this link to join us virtually.

Servants to the Guardians

HELP.BUNGIE.NET is the central resource for any player who seeks the answer to a question about how to play Destiny. There is a running conversation there. Our mission is not to teach you how to win, but an entire team of support specialists is researching the issues you report. Before you can even ask a question, it may have already been answered in an article they have prepared.

This is their report.

Destiny Hotfix 1.0.3.1

On Tuesday, maintenance was conducted to support the deployment of Hotfix 1.0.3.1 to Destiny 2. Upon conclusion, there was a minor issue where some players were prompted to create new characters in an alternate service environment. No characters or items were deleted due to this issue. For resolution, closing Destiny 2 and relaunching the application would return characters to their proper state.

Event Vendors: Availability Issue

On September 26, Faction Rally vendors were not available in some Tower instances immediately upon the weekly reset. We are investigating the cause of this issue, as well as potential ways to address it. Similarly, Lord Saladin is expected to be impacted when Iron Banner becomes available on October 10. If you are unable to locate Saladin within your Tower after the weekly reset, we advise returning to orbit and launching into a new Tower instance.

Destiny 2 Error Code Investigations

At this time, we continue to investigate reports of CABBAGE errors that are blocking some players from progressing through the Destiny 2 campaign or returning players to orbit from alternate activities.

Some players have been able to reduce the frequency of these errors by following recently updated troubleshooting steps listed in the help article linked above. Some steps listed may need to be taken by an internet service provider to adjust security restrictions on network hardware. We will provide updates on this investigation when available.

Additionally, we are investigating elevated levels Newt, Beaver, Guitar, and Permissions errors impacting Destiny 2 gameplay. If you encounter these issues during gameplay, please post a report to the #Help forum detailing the following:

  • Were you in a Fireteam when this error occurred?
  • What was the activity that you were engaged in when experiencing this error?
  • Have you followed steps within the Network Troubleshooting guide to ensure proper network configuration for Destiny 2 gameplay?

As we continue to investigate the rise in these error codes, we advise all players follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or visit Help.bungie.net for updates concerning server status, known outages, and active issue investigations.

You Oughta Be In Pictures

Years ago now, we chose this playful outro for our weekly address as a way to let you know that we see you having fun, and we love you for it. The emblem that we grant to the winners is a nice keepsake, but the most important thing is that our Creations page continues to be a fascinating place to see the face of the community, and all the people who help to define it.

Movie of the Week: If you’re happy and you know it.

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Honorable Mention: Aesthetic: Destiny 2 – A New Frontier

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Honorable Mention: Destiny 2 Be Brave Metal Cover

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[Editor’s Note: I listened to the whole channel as I wrote all this. Thanks, man.]

Anyone miss Cozmo yet? I miss Cozmo. I’m so lonely here, with all of you, all by myself. He’ll be back next week, with his cats and his chill way of deploying the news. I’m always happy to grab the controls of the blog, but he has taken solid ownership of this community. I have his back, and he has yours.

As we continue to ride this wave, the game will tell its own continuing story. Your Milestones will reveal the mysteries of the weekly resets. We’ll plot some more distant milestones right here. There are a few mentioned above to fuel speculation. Destiny is a turbulent landscape that’s always changing, so our focus tends to be weekly. There is still a lot to talk about, and the game will serve up new challenges every time you visit that world. In the weeks to come, another wave of Guardians will join our community on the PC. We have more stories to tell and more destinations to explore before the end of this year.

On a personal note; just the other night, after we caught up in the Crucible, I had dinner with a dude I met as my teammate in a Bungie game eleven years ago. I am a product of the Bungie community. My challenge to every Guardian is to look to the human element in Destiny 2 to fuel your appetite for ultimate re-playability. The ultimate loot is the friendships that can grow out of a game like this. There will be more gear to add to your character (next week, even). The rewards that I’m talking about are the people in the community that thrives in this game. If you let them, they’ll make your hobby as a light-dealing hero on a starside campaign for glory even better.

Thanks to those of you who are helping us to drive that scene.

DeeJ, out.

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Activision Blizzard to Release Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results on November 2, 2017

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) intends to release its third quarter 2017 results after the close of the market on Thursday, November 2, 2017. In conjunction with this release, Activision Blizzard will host a conference call that will be broadcast over the internet.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

To listen to the call, please log onto:

http://investor.activision.com/events.cfm

Or dial:

U.S. and Canada: 877-604-9668

International: 719-325-4891

Passcode: 2253748

A presentation corresponding with the conference call will be available in Adobe Acrobat format at http://investor.activision.com/events.cfm. A replay of the call will also be available approximately three hours after the call’s conclusion and archived for one year in the Investor Relations section at www.activisionblizzard.com.

About Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 and S&P 500, is the world’s most successful standalone interactive entertainment company. We delight hundreds of millions of monthly active users around the world through franchises including Activision’s Call of Duty®, Destiny and Skylanders®, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Hearthstone®, Diablo®, StarCraft®, and Heroes of the Storm®, and King’s Candy Crush™, Pet Rescue™, Bubble Witch™ and Farm Heroes™. The company is one of the Fortune “100 Best Companies To Work For®.” Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard has operations throughout the world, and its games are played in 196 countries. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Blizzard’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Blizzard’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 Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and Activision Blizzard does not assume 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 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.

Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Mary Osako
Sr. Vice President, Global Communications
424-322-5166
Mary.Osako@activision.com
or
Amrita Ahuja
Sr. Vice President, Investor Relations
310-255-2075
Amrita.Ahuja@activision.com

Source: Activision Blizzard, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

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The Flame in the Flood Begins Its Journey on Switch Next Week

Just recently Curve Digital confirmed two games that it’s bringing to the Switch eShop, including The Flame in the Flood (developed by The Molasses Flood). Pleasingly a press release has now confirmed that it’ll arrive next week (12th October), so we’ll get a chance to put it to the test.

You can see the Switch trailer and some blurb below.

The Flame In The Flood is a bleak but beautiful rogue-lite set upon a treacherous, procedurally generated river. With the help of your trusty dog, Aesop, The Flame In The Flood tasks you to make the most of your surroundings by foraging, hunting and scavenging your way through nature and the remains of society. With an evocative, homespun art-style and lilting, original soundtrack by Chuck Ragan, survival has never been this enjoyable.

It seems like quite a challenging game based upon comments from those that have played it elsewhere. Not only do you need to stay safe on the river but also make landfall and find vital resources; nature is rather cruel in the process.

Are you planning to venture into ‘post-societal America’ in this title?

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Xbox One X: What It Takes to Build a Console

Peanut butter and jelly. Shaq and Kobe. Master Chief and Cortana. If there’s anything we’ve learned during our short time on this planet, it’s that collaboration is the driving force of creation (and tasty sandwiches).

We recently heard from Bryan Sparks, Senior Designer, Microsoft Device Design Team, and Leonardo Del Castillo, GM of Xbox Devices Console Development to learn about their creative collaboration process behind the world’s most powerful gaming console: Xbox One X.

To hear them tell it, the story is a fascinating one. In that, the engineering and design teams executed on the development of Xbox One X with a clear and specific goal from the outset — deliver True 4K Gaming in a small form factor design — and endeavored to work together to make that dream possible without compromising on their vision. And the end result is tremendous.

Xbox One X Feature Image

Kickstarting the Process

As you might imagine when one sits down to create the world’s most powerful gaming console, the engineering and design teams would face a lot of questions: How do you make the systems work with each other? How can we make it compact? What’s the expression of Xbox One X? How does it tell a story just by the way it looks?

While these were all great questions the team looked to tackle early on, the most critical that they all agreed to land on was that this was going to be “True 4K Gaming” at its heart, and this is what was going to drive the architecture of the system.

The Scorpio Engine is designed, at its core, to be the most powerful system-on-a-chip for game consoles that has ever been created. Everything about it was designed to be compatible with Xbox One (and Xbox One S). And to make that happen, it was clear that nearly every component that was to be housed in the system was going to have to be custom built. That left the team with a lot of freedom of how it could design the system around things like optical drives, hard drives, and memory components.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“If you start with a bag of parts, how does that turn into a product?” explains Del Castillo. “We needed a direction, and floor planning directions, to lead the architecture around what the motherboard will look like, what will the chassis look like. And for that you lean on the design team.”

The Design of a System

“Whenever you start a new design project, it’s this blank canvas and you start feeding ideas and constraints,” explains Sparks. “Eventually, you see this thing start to form as you work through the process.”

When creating the design of the system, the team knew all those parts had to come together in one cohesive unit. They knew it was going to be part of the growing Xbox One family of devices, and wanted to take all the feedback received on the design of Xbox One S that the community loved.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“The other part of our vision is what would embody this product,” Sparks continued. “We envisioned this monolith (“2001: A Space Odyssey”). Whenever you see it in the film, it was a signal to the audience that it was the next phase of advancement. So, we kept that as a design goal: Xbox One X is the next point of advancement.”

“We did not want Xbox One X to be any larger than Xbox One S, which was a huge ask as we were putting 40% more power into it. And this is where we knew we had to work with Leo and the engineers to make that happen.”

Fitting into Place

As the engineering team continued to look at the overall intent of the design, for which there was a lot of collaboration between the two teams, they begun to lay out the components like the motherboard, and determined how memory would route to the system and be arranged. The iteration continued to the point where they found it would make the most sense to have the motherboard fit on the “ceiling” of the console, and placing the optical drive and hard drive on top of one other to create the optimum stacking height of the system.

Xbox One X Feature Image

The other benefit of having the motherboard on the ceiling is that there would not need to be any venting on the top space of the console, keeping the clean, monolithic form the design team was looking to achieve.

The other intent was to ensure the power supply would live internally, just like Xbox One S — it’s not much larger, but it is nearly 40% more powerful. To continue with the efficient design (getting these parts into a small form factor) they placed the power right behind the optical drive. In turn, this allowed them to keep all the ports on the back of the system in nearly same place as Xbox One S so that when you’re upgrading to Xbox One X, set up would be as simple, yet familiar, as possible.

Keeping Cool

With so many components, and with a system nearly twice as powerful as Xbox One S, there’s sure to be a lot of heat moving through the chassis that needs to be exhausted. This was initially tackled where a heat sink would work as a base with a radiator, and then with a stacked fan on top of it. The problem with that approach is it created a lot of added height to the system.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“When you’re trying to scale that amount of power into the Scorpio engine, it wasn’t going to be a feasible approach to achieve the size we wanted to do,” says Leo. “We got innovative and looked at other tech we could use and created a vapor chamber heat sink, like what you’d find in high-end PCs and graphic cards, and we believe this is the first time it’s being used in a consumer electronic.”

The vaper chamber heat sink is fascinating. It’s hollow, filled with water, and there’s a vacuum that draws upon that water to help move the heat to the radiator fins and thus into the air. Leo’s team looked like they solved how to keep temperatures lower than normal, but there still needs way for that air to move through and out of the system.

The result is a custom centrifugal fan assembly with ducts and propellers that are custom built just for Xbox One X. This helps move air out of the system and keep all the components cool, including the power supply. In fact, the team built the fan assembly in a virtual space and ran empirical models to continue refining the design, helping to pinpoint any “hot spots” in the console’s components before laying down the silicone needed to create the fan housing.

Xbox One X Feature Image

The team had found a solution to move air out of the system — but how would the design bring air in to Xbox One X?

“This is where concurrent engineering comes into play,” explains Sparks. “We’re working back and forth between the functional realities of the engineering process and the design intent. And this is where we get to play off each other.”

Part of this play was figuring out which components were prioritized to get access to the air flow first, and that came back to the Xbox One S design, with its short-side venting detail to allow air into the console box. But the design team wanted to figure out how to upgrade that expression from the bold hole pattern from Xbox One S.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“Where we landed was grabbing the vent pattern from Xbox One S and miniaturizing it as much as we could to where it was just barely manufacturable. Which was no easy ask. It was another thing we had to innovate,” says Sparks.

And to do just that, the engineering team realized they would have to create a new tool to answer the growing number of asks from the design team: 5-sided unibody with a top-housing, zero draft, thousands of tiny pins to make the perforation pattern, and super thin walls.

“But we were able to do it! Probably making the most innovative and complex injection molding tool we have ever made,” proclaims Sparks. “We did all of this to give the outside appearance of this console the same level of precision of the work we’ve been putting into the inside.”

Putting it All Together

The guts for Xbox One X are all placed on the table, making it hard to imagine how these will snap into the small form factor of Xbox One X. Leo picks up each piece one at a time and easily starts to put it all together, like some sort of awesome jigsaw puzzle, continuing to talk through and explain the logic behind the layout of the components in such a snug form-fitting design. Even when placing the hard drive into the system, Leo takes the time to explain how such a basic component has also received some special attention.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“As for the hard drive, the mechanical components are pretty much standard,” explains Leo. “We do work with our manufactures to optimize firmware performance specifically for our product. To preserve that performance, we have to take a great deal of care when it’s mounted.”

To solve for this the team created a custom mount for the drive to dampen the vibrations that would be carried through the chassis, as too much vibration would compromise the performance of the drive itself. Especially since the optical drive and hard drive will be living on top of each other inside the system.

Leo then grabs the fan assembly and fits it snug over the vaper chamber heat sink, the power supply drops in above the motherboard, and the ducts from the assembly all naturally snap right into place.

Xbox One X Feature Image

“Every single component and where it’s placed is critical,” explains Leo. “Start moving holes around or components, even a millimeter, it can cause interference to other products. So, it’s necessary for the engineers to be working on the design concurrently. There’s no staging like, ‘First we design a motherboard, then we’ll design a chassis around the motherboard…’ If we did that we’d wind up with a sub-optimal product.”

The Finishing Touch

“For Xbox One S we developed a brand-new color called Robot White and that did a great job of embodying what Xbox One S was, which was a bold, approachable console,” explains Sparks. “For Xbox One X, we had a different goal in mind. We wanted a color that would embody the power that was encased inside this console.”

Interestingly, after all the combinations of color to design, Sparks and his team landed back on black, specifically Infinite Black, finding that a deep, rich, neutral black was a color that worked well with the simple design of Xbox One X.

Xbox One X Console Feature Key Art

However, since the design of Xbox One X is between two separate housings, and not wanting to lose the slight shift or overhang, Sparks and his team felt the housing design could get lost being all the same color.

“What we did was, create a fine top housing texture that almost looks like it’s painted, and on the bottom housing we pushed on a heavy texture, so the final part looks really, really, matte,” says Sparks.

The effect is very noticeable as you look at the console in different shades of light and how it seems to move elegantly around the system, refracting differently to help draw attention to the top and bottom housings of the system. There’s also a bit of an inspiration from the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller as well, bringing some of the textured grip from those controllers to the base of the unit.

Xbox One X Feature Image

And if there was a one more thing moment to be had, it was showcasing Xbox One X in its vertical form, harkening back to that original design intent goal of a monolith, calling to this as the next moment in the story of Xbox.

“All these details, and this work, and all this refinement lead us down the track of creating, in my opinion, the best console we have ever made,” says Sparks. “We didn’t build this for us; we built this for the gamer. The gamer wins in this scenario. They get the best console we could possibly create.”

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Now Available on Steam – Raw Data, 25% off!

Raw Data is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!*

Built from the ground up for VR, Raw Data’s action gameplay, intuitive controls, challenging enemies, and sci-fi atmosphere will completely immerse you within the surreal world of Eden Corp. Go solo or team up and become the adrenaline-charged heroes of your own futuristic technothriller.

*Offer ends October 12 at 10AM Pacific Time

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Nintendo Download: 5th October (Europe)

Another week, another impressive European Nintendo download line-up to separate us all from our cash. The Switch eShop has a broad range of strong arrivals, while the 3DS has three retail releases vying for attention. The Wii U doesn’t miss out, either, and there’s also a lot of DLC and discounts to get through – let’s get on with it, shall we?

Switch eShop

Stardew Valley (Chucklefish LTD, €13.99 / £10.99) – Since it was announced earlier this year this has been top of plenty of wishlists. A hugely popular game across PC and consoles, this will be the first iteration that’ll also be playable on the go. It adds its own modern spin to Harvest Moon-style ideas such as tending to your land and forming relationships with suitors. We’ll bring you a review as soon as possible.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base, €14.99 / £11.99) – A hit on other systems, this is a colourful title in which up to four players frantically rush around a spaceship to control various weapons and systems in order to hold off enemy attacks. Perhaps best in co-op, you can also play solo with AI companions helping you out; we enjoyed it a lot in our Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime review.

Axiom Verge (Thomas Happ Games, €17.99 / £14.99) – An innovative Metroidvania that in the eyes of some (including our reviewer) is a modern classic. On the surface it looks traditional, but an innovative approach to glitches and their impact on the world helps to make it a distinctive experience. We love this game, and that didn’t change in our Axiom Version Switch review.

Oxenfree (Night School, €19.99 / £15.99) Originally released on PS4, Xbox One and Steam in 2016, Oxenfree casts the player as Alex, who travels with her stepbrother Jonas to an abandoned military island packed with hidden secrets. The game offers a multiple-choice conversation system that alters the story as you play, building your in-game relationships with every reply, statement and question. There’s also a radio which allows you manipulate the game world and make contact with the strange and mysterious forces that have been dormant on the island for the past 70 years. Critically acclaimed when originally released, we’ll check it out on Switch. Available from 6th October.

Earth Atlantis (Headup Games, €14.99 / £13.49) – Looking a lot like the classic arcade blaster In The Hunt, Earth Atlantis places you in a world where the majority of the planet’s surface is covered in wet stuff. There are plenty of enemies to take down as you embark upon a ‘monster-hunting’ approach to the side-scrolling shooter genre, all with a distinctive art style. We’ll had a review with you soon, in the meantime here’s an interview with the director and lead designer.

Tumblestone (The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, €12.99 / £11.99) – The name may sound familiar, as this was a ‘Nindie’ title given a big push by Nintendo on the Wii U eShop last year. It’s a game that reminds us that puzzle titles can be engrossing and a lot of fun, with plenty of content, modes and options to play alone or with buddies. We’ll take another look on Switch, but in the meantime you can check out the strong recommendation in our Tumblestone Wii U review.

Ninja Shodown (Rising Star Games, €12.99 / £9.99) – Another potential winner to add to the stack of entertaining local multiplayer games on the Switch. This one is all about chaotic arena brawls (either co-operative play or as opponents) and looks like it could be fun. We’ll see whether it truly has the way of the ninja in a review.

Volgarr the Viking (Crazy Viking, €9.99 / £8.99) – Also coming to Wii U at some point this has now made its way to the Switch. It pitches itself as a tough action platformer in which you’ll die a lot. It looks a tad rough visually, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a lot of fun; we’ll try it out for review.

Metal Slug X (HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.29) – We’ve already had three ACA Metal Slug titles on the store to date, though X is considered to be pretty darn good – it’s a rearranged version of Metal Slug 2 (fixing that game’s drastic slowdown) and we loved it in our Wii Virtual Console review.

Tower of Babel (EnjoyUp Games, €9.99 / £8.99) – This looks somewhat quirky in footage, as a knight auto-runs up and down sort-of 3D towers, with your goal being to dodge obstacles and grab collectibles through jumping, ducking and adjusting your dash speed. Unfortunately we were left rather unimpressed in our Tower of Babel review.

Switch eShop Demos

Just Dance 2018 (Ubisoft, free)

Spelunker Party! (Square Enix, free) – Available from 7th October.

Switch DLC

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Pixel Pack (Ubisoft, €2.99 / £2.49) – Included in season pass.

Infinite Minigolf – Tortuga (Zen Studios, free)

3DS Retail Downloads

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions (Nintendo, €39.99 / £34.99) – One of the most beloved entries in the RPG series gets a revamp on the 3DS, with updated visuals and a new strategy-light spin-off campaign. Though the all-new content is a tad uninspired, the main game is still an absolute delight to play – we get into why in our Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions review. Available from 6th October.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy (Level-5, €39.99 / £34.99) – After spin-offs and experiments the Layton series goes mostly back to its roots in this new release, with Katrielle and chums solving a lot of puzzles while solving a dozen cases. It’s a welcome return to form for the IP, as we explain in our review. Available from 6th October.

Culdcept Revolt (NIS America, $39.99) – A series with a very sporadic history in the West, this blends fantasy, card battles and board game play for what could certainly be an interesting release. We’re finalising a review to go live later this week.

3DS eShop

Symphony of Eternity (KEMCO, €7.99 / £7.19) – KEMCO is bucking the trend, changing up its modus operandi to bring us something completely different… nah, just kidding, it’s a retro-styled RPG. There’s a legendary weapon and an epic quest, and that – ladies and gentleman – is another KEMCO RPG 3DS eShop release. It might be good though, to be fair.

3DS DLC

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Costume bundle pack (Level-5, €7.99 / £7.19)

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Daddy’s girl (Level-5, €1.99 / £1.79)

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Luke lookalike (Level-5, €1.99 / £1.79)

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Emmy impersonation (Level-5, €1.99 / £1.79)

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Anton-ish attire (Level-5, €1.99 / £1.79)

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Aurora again (Level-5, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Free Bats’ Free Time (NIS America, €3.99 / £3.59)

Culdcept Revolt – Free Avatar Pack (NIS America, free)

Culdcept Revolt – Free Book Cover Pack (NIS America, free)

Culdcept Revolt – Vampire Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Necromancer Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Gothic Lolita Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Green Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Red Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Blue Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Yellow Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Alien Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Angel Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Detective Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Black Knight Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Hero Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Battle Boy Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Shrine Maiden Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Red Riding Hood Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Magical Girl Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Puppet Doll Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Tin Man Set (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Archer Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Warrior Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Musician Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Horror Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Mascot Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Glasses Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Rose Pack (NIS America, €0.99 / £0.89)

Culdcept Revolt – Animal Pack (NIS America, €0.99 / £0.89)

Culdcept Revolt – Steel Pack (NIS America, €0.99 / £0.89)

Culdcept Revolt – Scale Pack (NIS America, €0.99 / £0.89)

Culdcept Revolt – Dragon Pack (NIS America, €1.99 / £1.79)

Culdcept Revolt – Avatar Pack (NIS America, €19.99 / £17.99)

Culdcept Revolt – Book Cover Pack (NIS America, €14.99 / £13.49)

Culdcept Revolt – Dice Pack (NIS America, €9.99 / £8.99)

3DS eShop Temporary Discounts

BOXBOY! (Nintendo, €3.74 / £3.36 until 26th October, normally €4.99 / £4.49)

BOXBOXBOY! (Nintendo, €3.74 / £3.36 until 26th October, normally €4.99 / £4.49)

BYE-BYE BOXBOY! (Nintendo, €3.74 / £3.36 until 26th October, normally €4.99 / £4.49)

Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX (Akaoni Studio, €6.30 / £5.67 until 2nd November, normally €7.00 / £6.30)

AeternoBlade (Corecell, €7.49 / £6.75 until 19th October, normally €14.99 / £13.50)

Epic Word Search Collection (Lightwood Games, €5.99 / £4.49 until 19th October, normally €7.99 / £5.99)

Epic Word Search Collection 2 (Lightwood Games, €5.99 / £4.49 until 19th October, normally €7.99 / £5.99)

10-in-1: Arcade Collection (Gamelion, €0.99 / £0.89 until 19th October, normally €1.99 / £1.79)

Crazy Kangaroo (Gamelion, €0.99 / £0.94 until 19th October, normally €1.99 / £1.89)

Hazumi (Gamelion, €1.34 / £0.99 until 19th October, normally €2.69 / £1.99)

League of Heroes (Gamelion, €1.99 / £1.79 until 19th October, normally €3.99 / £3.59)

Monster Shooter (Gamelion, €2.00 / £1.60 until 19th October, normally €4.00 / £3.20)

Pick-A-Gem (Gamelion, €1.49 / £1.39 until 19th October, normally €2.99 / £2.79)

PIX3D (Gamelion, €1.99 / £1.79 until 19th October, normally €3.99 / £3.59)

Rage of the Gladiator (Gamelion, €3.49 / £3.14 until 19th October, normally €6.99 / £6.29)

SpeedX 3D (Gamelion, €1.49 / £1.34 until 19th October, normally €2.99 / £2.69)

SpeedX 3D Hyper Edition (Gamelion, €0.99 / £0.89 until 19th October, normally €1.99 / £1.79)

Collide-a-Ball (Starsign, €0.99 / £0.99 until 19th October, normally €1.99 / £1.99)

Ping Pong Trick Shot (Starsign, €0.99 / £0.99 until 19th October, normally €1.99 / £1.99)

Crollors Game Pack (Nvriezen, €1.26 / £1.18 until 2nd November, normally €1.49 / £1.39)

My Nintendo 3DS HOME Theme

BOXBOY! 2.5th Year Anniversary (Nintendo, 20 Gold Points)

Wii U eShop

Volgarr the Viking (Crazy Viking, €9.99 / £8.99) – Same game, different console.

Wii U Virtual Console

Double Dungeons (EXTREME, €5.99 / £5.39) – The run of TG-16 games continues with this ambitious (for its time) attempt and 3D dungeon crawling. Unfortunately we were left distinctly unimpressed in our Wii Virtual Console Double Dungeons review.

Vigilante (IREM, €5.99 / £5.39) – Another TurboGrafx-16 game for your consideration, this time around it’s a side-scrolling beat ’em up. You can go full retro and check out our 2007 review, if you like.

Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts

3Souls (Red Column, €0.90 / £0.80 until 5th November, normally €3.60 / £3.20)

Ascent of Kings (Nostatic Software, €1.49 / £1.11 until 12th October, normally €1.99 / £1.49)

Wicked Monsters Blast: HD PLUS (Corecell, €3.99 / £3.59 until 19th October, normally €7.99 / £7.19)

Wii U Demo

Just Dance 2018 (Ubisoft, free)

Lots of options this week – let us know what you’ll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

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Pokémon Ultra Sun And Moon Gets New Trailer And A Fresh Beast

Nintendo has released a new batch of info on the upcoming 3DS title Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, along with a brand-new trailer.

As well as releasing this new footage, the story behind the game is fleshed out, too:

In Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, Ultra Wormholes were strange pockets of space that mysteriously appeared throughout the Alola region and were shrouded in mystery. In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, these Ultra Wormholes return and players can ride on the Legendary Pokémon Solgaleo and Lunala to travel through them to reach the various worlds that lie beyond. Players can visit many different worlds via these Ultra Wormholes—including Ultra Megalopolis! The world of Ultra Megalopolis is a place that has had its light stolen by Necrozma. Within this world, a mysterious tower-like building shines with brilliant light but whatever waits at the top of this structure is currently unknown.

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon players will meet the Ultra Recon Squad, a strange group that have come from a world that lives beyond an Ultra Wormhole. Players will see the story told from different perspective in each version of the game, with Dulse and Zossie playing a central role in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Soliera and Phyco taking that role in Pokémon Ultra Moon. The Ultra Recon Squad bring with them a new Ultra Beast—UB Adhesive.

We’ve also got some details on this strange new beast, alongside UB Burst and UB Assembly:

UB Adhesive 
Type: Poison

This Ultra Beast’s head is filled with venom and it shoots this venom out from the poisonous needle on the top of its head. It is said to be intelligent enough to understand human speech and displays many emotions.

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, players will be able to meet other new Ultra Beasts in addition to UB Adhesive. In Pokémon Ultra Sun, players will able to meet UB Burst, while in Pokémon Ultra Moon, it will be UB Assembly.

UB Burst
Type: Fire/Ghost

UB Burst has a head made up of a collection of curious sparks, which it can remove and make explode. It tricks targets into letting their guard down with its funny behaviour then, when its opponent is close, it surprises them by blowing up its head without warning. 

UB Assembly

Type: Rock/Steel
This Ultra Beast is a collection of many life-forms. While it appears to be made up of stones stacked atop one another, each “stone” is in fact a separate life-form. When confronting opponents, the eyes on each of its stones begin to glow bright red.

What do you make of this Pocket Monster-themed info-burst, and the new trailer? Let us know with a comment.

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Nintendo Download: 5th October (North America)

It’s Nintendo Download Update time, ladies and gentleman, and it’s another cracker. This week brings an impressive range of new releases on Switch, both at retail and as download-only titles. The 3DS also weighs in, with two notable retail releases on the veteran handheld; there’s a lot to get through, so let’s get to the details.

Switch Retail Download

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle (NIS America, $29.99USD) – A spin-off of the popular Touhou Project series, Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle is described as a 3D shooter with fighting elements, which tasks you with taking down opponents 1 vs 1 using projectile and melee attacks. Available from 10th October.

Tiny Barbarian DX (Nicalis, $29.99USD) – An action platformer that pays homage to the retro era, it supports local co-op and also has “four lengthy episodes”. We suspect most will aim to get the physical edition of this, however, which will include various goodies in the first run. Available from 10th October.

Switch eShop

Stardew Valley (Chucklefish LTD, $14.99USD) – Since it was announced earlier this year this has been top of plenty of wishlists. A hugely popular game across PC and consoles, this will be the first iteration that’ll also be playable on the go. It adds its own modern spin to Harvest Moon-style ideas such as tending to your land and forming relationships with suitors. We’ll bring you a review as soon as possible.

Axiom Verge (Thomas Happ Games, $19.99USD) – An innovative Metroidvania that in the eyes of some (including our reviewer) is a modern classic. On the surface it looks traditional, but an innovative approach to glitches and their impact on the world helps to make it a distinctive experience. We love this game, and that didn’t change in our Axiom Version Switch review.

Oxenfree (Night School, $19.99USD) Originally released on PS4, Xbox One and Steam in 2016, Oxenfree casts the player as Alex, who travels with her stepbrother Jonas to an abandoned military island packed with hidden secrets. The game offers a multiple-choice conversation system that alters the story as you play, building your in-game relationships with every reply, statement and question. There’s also a radio which allows you manipulate the game world and make contact with the strange and mysterious forces that have been dormant on the island for the past 70 years. Critically acclaimed when originally released, we’ll check it out on Switch. Available from 6th October.

Earth Atlantis (Headup Games, $14.99USD) – Looking a lot like the classic arcade blaster In The Hunt, Earth Atlantis places you in a world where the majority of the planet’s surface is covered in wet stuff. There are plenty of enemies to take down as you embark upon a ‘monster-hunting’ approach to the side-scrolling shooter genre, all with a distinctive art style. We’ll had a review with you soon, in the meantime here’s an interview with the director and lead designer.

Tumblestone (The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, $14.99USD) – The name may sound familiar, as this was a ‘Nindie’ title given a big push by Nintendo on the Wii U eShop last year. It’s a game that reminds us that puzzle titles can be engrossing and a lot of fun, with plenty of content, modes and options to play alone or with buddies. We’ll take another look on Switch, but in the meantime you can check out the strong recommendation in our Tumblestone Wii U review.

Ninja Shodown (Rising Star Games, $14.95USD) – Another potential winner to add to the stack of entertaining local multiplayer games on the Switch. This one is all about chaotic arena brawls (either co-operative play or as opponents) and looks like it could be fun. We’ll see whether it truly has the way of the ninja in a review.

Volgarr the Viking (Crazy Viking, $9.99) – Also coming to Wii U at some point this has now made its way to the Switch. It pitches itself as a tough action platformer in which you’ll die a lot. It looks a tad rough visually, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a lot of fun; we’ll try it out for review.

Metal Slug X (HAMSTER, $7.99USD) – We’ve already had three ACA Metal Slug titles on the store to date, though X is considered to be pretty darn good – it’s a rearranged version of Metal Slug 2 (fixing that game’s drastic slowdown) and we loved it in our Wii Virtual Console review.

3DS Retail Downloads

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions (Nintendo, $39.99USD) – One of the most beloved entries in the RPG series gets a revamp on the 3DS, with updated visuals and a new strategy-light spin-off campaign. Though the all-new content is a tad uninspired, the main game is still an absolute delight to play – we get into why in our Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions review. Available from 6th October.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy (Level-5, $39.99USD) – After spin-offs and experiments the Layton series goes mostly back to its roots in this new release, with Katrielle and chums solving a lot of puzzles while solving a dozen cases. It’s a welcome return to form for the IP, as we explain in our review. Available from 6th October.

3DS eShop

Symphony of Eternity (KEMCO, $7.99USD) – KEMCO is bucking the trend, changing up its modus operandi to bring us something completely different… nah, just kidding, it’s a retro-styled RPG. There’s a legendary weapon and an epic quest, and that – ladies and gentleman – is another KEMCO RPG 3DS eShop release. It might be good though, to be fair.

3DS HOME Theme

BOXBOY! 2.5th Year Anniversary

As always Nintendo of America wants you to browse the eShop and check out the official sales and deals website for discount details.

That’s the Nintendo Download line-up this week – let us know what you’ll be downloading in the poll and comments below.