Sonic And Tails Crossover With Cartoon Network’s OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes
Sega is always happy to experiment with Sonic the Hedgehog, and early next month on 4th August, Sonic and Miles “Tails” Prower will be appearing in Cartoon Network’s animated series, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes.
The news was revealed at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. Below is the official Twitter announcement:
As you can see in the video above, the brief clip is filled with plenty of Sonic references – ranging from iconic poses and hand gestures to music straight out of the video game series. The episode is titled “Let’s Meet Sonic,” and will see the blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox visit the plaza and team up with KO to save the day! This episode will also be available on the Cartoon Network app.
If you’re unfamiliar with OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, it’s about an enthusiastic young boy who earns a job at a hero supply store and trains to become the greatest hero ever.
Will you be tuning in to see Sonic and Tails? Are you a regular viewer of this animated series? Leave a comment below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-22-2019, 02:34 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Don’t Miss: Making Insomniac’s Spider-Man do what a spider can
This month, Insomniac Games and Sony released Marvel’s Spider-Man, a fluid, polished, and surprisingly grounded take on the web-slinging hero that’s drawn wide praise and sold millions of copies.
And while it’s easy to credit the wall-crawler’s worldwide fame as a big part of that success, the work Insomniac Games has done polishing every minute of Spider-Man’s adventure is worth remembering as well.
Recently, we were lucky enough to be joined by Insomniac Games game director Ryan Smith to talk about the development of Marvel’s Spider-Man, and learn more about the process in making Spidey feel like a genuine superhero.
Whether it’s the incredibly dynamic wall-crawling or building a New York in need of a champion, we wanted to know what Insomniac did to fuel their Spider-Man with great powers, and an even greater responsibility.
The swing is the thing
Smith’s perspective on Marvel’s Spider-Man starts from the fact that, no matter where the story goes or what villains Spidey squares off with, players will spend most of their time in this game doing one activity: swinging. Spider-Man’s unique traversal system has long been a draw in the various Spider-Man games made over the years, but for Smith and his colleagues, this pendulum-like movement would be the root of all their work.
Smith starts our conversation by explaining that the pendulum movement came first and foremost. As players hold down the right trigger, Spidey looks for an object nearby to shoot a web at, then swings down, then up to continue his forward movement. Right away, Smith says this flow creates visual and spatial differences that set the game apart from Insomniac’s last open-world title Sunset Overdrive.
“There’s also a difference in feel in terms of the speed that this character moves, the grand motions you make when you swing,” says Smith. “So you actually look at the city in a very different way: you’re looking at it a little further off in the distance.”
Insomniac Games’ Sunset Overdrive, released in 2014
“Sunset Overdrive, [the player sees] very rapid-fire changes. This one, we had a smoother motion that you’re looking at and you’re looking at bigger picture city changes.”
From there, the gameplay team needed to determine what would happen with each point in the parabolic arc where players could release the rope. “We looked at, on the swing, not just how does it feel to be on the line, but where are those right points to let yourself off the line and how can we make that a little bit of a game mechanic?” explains Smith.
This led to a decision to give players more decisions to make in traversal. Pressing jump at the end of a swing can launch them forward, but choosing to release earlier in the swing can send the player’s vector downward, changing direction toward street level.
Next, Smith pointed out the importance of “speed cues” in this crafting process. Examples include the motion blur from a straight dive down, or the slow-moving buildings in the distance while players zip through the foreground.
All the while, these movement systems (which include a handful of non-swinging moves like zip-lines and leaping systems), are fueled by hand-crafted interactions in the Insomniac Engine. To Smith, game physics are useful for collision tests, but when Spidey takes wing, it’s more important that “custom hero states” drive the swinging and moves.
An Empire State of Mind
The open world of Marvel’s Spider-Man might be better described as an open metropolis. It’s a scaled-down version of New York City that mushes together notable landmarks like Wall Street and Trinity Church (which is detailed so finely you can swing by the grave of Alexander Hamilton, as seen below). Unlike a lot of recent open-world adventures, Marvel’s Spider-Man doesn’t confine its hero to specific zones and then shuffle them along into new areas as the story progresses.
Instead, it keeps the city open, and uses a district system not only to organize its quests and activities, but also unique flavors of gameplay that keep the swinging from becoming stale.
“Also if things are always consistently—‘I can just press one button and just drive through the whole city,’ then that takes away some of that player engagement and that sense of flow and involvement,” Smith says. He compares three of the game’s districts and their architecture next. “The Financial District has really tall skyscrapers, Hell’s Kitchen is maybe a little bit lower…we looked at real spaces, actually Central Park is a great example.”
To build on Smith’s point, a quick spin through the city of Marvel’s Spider-Man shows the kind of detail he’s talking about. In the Financial District, it’s easier to get a higher altitude and make wide, sweeping swings between skyscrapers over the smaller buildings below. But when heading into Hell’s Kitchen, the player is now caught more in the local grid of the city. When making navigational changes, they either need to follow that grid’s path, or hoof it over the buildings and use more lateral traversal moves to move in the desired direction.
And when it comes to Central Park, it’s a wonder Spider-Man can even swing through there at all. But Smith says getting New York’s biggest natural landmark down was a big priority for Insomniac Games.
“You actually can swing through Central Park but we looked at those sections of the game that aren’t as natural as swinging off skyscrapers,” says Smith.” And we asked ourselves what feels right? Central Park, its central right? It defines the overall size of the island, it relates very directly to the whole shape and feel of it.”
“We did multiple tests with like a smaller Central Park, a bigger Central Park, and so we wanted to know both that if I’m swinging along side of it, what’s the right size, what’s the right distance where it feels like what’s the right size, what’s the right distance where it feels like ‘Wow, that is a Big Central Park, it feels right.’ But at the same time how can we find those opportunities in the middle to let you swing off the trees or the lamp posts that are in there?”
If this be Insomniac’s destiny
During our discussion with Smith, one surprising caveat to our conversation was how much of Spider-Man’s feel comes from all the games the company’s produced in the past, along with its proprietary Insomniac Engine.
Smith points to two specific titles whose DNA can be felt in Marvel’s Spider-Man in particular. The first is Sunset Overdrive, which is where Smith says the company learned about open-world traversal and shaping cities to improve gameplay. The second though, is the Ratchet and Clank series that Insomniac was previously most famous for.
In particular, Smith discussed how the myriad weapons and gadgets that players touted in Ratchet and Clank drove the gadgets and powers that players pick up during the course of Marvel’s Spider-Man. “That was something where we were able to leverage the experience we had building [Ratchet and Clank] weapons and awesome gadgets in previous games to integrate that into combat.”
“We knew that was a way that we could have players could express themselves and they’re gonna be still hopefully discovering different ways gadgets combined together and different strategies for taking guys down.”
Smith describes working with the company’s proprietary engine as “part of the Insomniac DNA,” and says using the engine helps his team set audacious goals for the game’s streaming budget and graphics. He adds that it also affords his team the ability to create custom workflows and tools that best fit their workflow.
“We were able to leverage the experience we had building [Ratchet and Clank] weapons and awesome gadgets in previous games to integrate that into combat.”
Unlike the development process for Sunset Overdrive, Smith says that Insomniac Games didn’t rely on internal game jams this time around to prototype dramatic new ideas. But he does say that a lot of the game’s niche features, like a photography mechanic and subway station-based fast travel system, came from a similar instinct of random team members pairing up to implement a unique design idea.
Per Smith, both systems solved problems that were occupying the design team at other levels. They knew even with a fun traversal system, players would still want to zip around the map, and even though exploring the city was meant to be fun, Smith and his colleagues wanted ways for exploration to feed back into the combat system.
Thanks to team members collaborating together though, both the subway system and the “landmark photo” mechanic were hashed out, letting Insomniac put a Spider-Man-flavored spin on traditional open-world systems.
“It takes a village,” Smith told us as we closed out a conversation. But if the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man is any indication, it’s helpful when that village has a history, elders, specialists, and a known tool as well.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Read the Final Chapter of The Sinking City’s Hero Origin Story Hi everyone! Last week we shared part one of The Sinking City hero origin story and we heard you liked it. If you missed it, you can still read it here. In The Sinking City, you play as Charles Reed, a 1920s private investigator… Read more
Bask of the Glory of the ID@Xbox Platforming Paradise Sale Summer is here and it’s time to bust out the shades because the ID@Xbox team have taken 50 of our best and brightest platforming games and put them on sale. From now through July 15 you can save up to 75% on action packed… Read more
Free Play Days: Rocket League Start your engines, prepare your Rocket Boosts, and don’t forget to bring your friends. Rocket League, the hit sports/action hybrid and recipient of more than 150 Game of the Year nominations, will be available for free this weekend… Read more
Coming to You in Full Color and Cine-Sound: The Cuphead Show! Hi, everyone! Chad Moldenhauer from Studio MDHR coming to you with an announcement so surreal I can honestly say I never thought I’d be making it… Cuphead will be coming to life as an original Netflix series, “The Cuphead Show!”… Read more
All the Details for Gears of War at San Diego Comic-Con With Gears Pop! and Gears 5 releasing this year, join the developers and minds behind the Gears of War Universe as they discuss the past, present, and future of this storied franchise at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for July 16 to 19 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon… Read more
Star Trek: Picard's First Trailer From Comic-Con 2019 Is Here
At San Diego Comic-Con, fans attending the Star Trek panel were treated to the first trailer for Star Trek Picard, the CBS All Access show that brings one of Starfleet's most respected officers to screen once again--and with a number of familiar faces in tow. Picard is set many years after The Next Generation and, in the time he's been away, much has happened. While the details remain vague (and will likely only be explored once the show premieres), the end result is that Picard has retired and now runs a vineyard.
The trailer opens in the vineyard, where Picard opens some doors and stares at his old belongings. It's noted that Data sacrificed his life for Picard. "I wanted to belong here, but it never felt like home," he says. A woman comes to Picard for help, and Picard discusses her with another officer. "If she's who I think she is, she's in serious danger," he explained.
Picard is then shown enlisting a crew to join him. He pours a drink out, and at this point it's revealed that Seven of Nine will return. "What the hell are you doing here, Picard?" she says, to which he replies, "Saving the galaxy."
The classic order of, "Engage," is said, and then Data is shown, taking part in a card game. "I don't want the game to end," Picard says, showing his sentimentality. "I can see that, Captain," Data offers in return.
Patrick Stewart, who plays the iconic character, also appeared during the panel and, as you can imagine, the crowd was very excited to see him. "We never know do we, when our best moment will be? And that is now," he said. There were a whole bunch of other characters confirmed for the show, including Riker. Check out the full breakdown of the Star Trek: Picard panel for more.
It was a pretty exciting hour for fans of the sci-fi series, as the Stak Trek panel also provided new insight into Star Trek Discovery Season 3, Lower Decks--the new animated series developed by Rick & Morty writer Mike McMahan--and Short Treks, the short film series.
For more on what's been happening at the show, check out our SDCC 2019 hub, where you'll find all the latest news. We've also put together a roundup of all the coolest trailers from SDCC, so it's the place to go if you want to catch up on what TVs and movies have in store for us.
Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (July 20th)
What a week it’s been! Nintendo revealed a Switch revision with improved battery life, locked in the release date for Luigi’s Mansion 3 and announced two new sets of Joy-Con. On the third-party front, we found out when Resident Evil 5 and 6 would arrive and Sega finally confirmed Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD.Brushing aside the week that was, it’s now time to focus on the final Splatoon 2 Splatfest, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and the many other games we’ll be playing this weekend. We’re also joined by a special guest from a certain website you’ll likely be familiar with!
Austin Voigt, contributing writer
Well – my weekend plans will likely be the same as last weekend’s, but I’ll be replacing What Remains of Edith Finch (which I finished and wept over), with the final Splatfest (which I will also likely weep over). I also plan to acquire the full version of Dragon Quest Builders 2 and get lost in that – I checked out the demo last weekend and loved it, so you’ll find me splatting and building all weekend long.
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer
This weekend, I’ll be a busy boy with three very different games occupying my free time. Firstly, I’ll be taking FIA European Truck Racing Championship for a spin to see if big rig racing can really work on Switch. Then I’ll be channeling my inner Ragnar Lothbrok as I brave the elements and attempt to survive (and thrive) in the survival RPG realm of Dead in Vinland: True Viking Edition.
Finally, I’ll be trying out a game that’s been on my to-do list for a while now: Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. I’ve never been the biggest fan of tactics-style games, but the art style and the fact you can play as a grizzled-looking mallard has me seriously intrigued. Look out for reviews of all three in the coming weeks, right here on Nintendo Life.
Liam Doolan, news reporter
My main gaming priority this weekend is to help Team Order win the Splatpocalypse event. Who knows what will happen to the world of Splatoon if we let Pearl and Team Chaos win? It’s just a pity my expensive Splatfest-themed t-shirt won’t arrive until well after this event has finished.
When I’m not fighting to the bitter end in Splatoon 2, I’ll be saving the galaxy or at least attempting to save whatever else needs saving in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. I’m still trying to work out my ultimate team. I’m thinking Wolverine, Spider-Man, The Hulk and Captain Marvel might be a good combination to start with. I should probably revisit Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as well.
Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer
The Summer of Switch relentlessly continues to bombard us with quality titles. I had a ton of music-related work due to the release of two individual projects, so I ended up not playing as much as I wanted during the week. I will make up for it this weekend with sessions of The Messenger, Blazing Chrome, Rise: Race The Future, Arcade Archives The Ninja Warriors (Zuntata turned up to 11, of course) and by participating in the Splatpocalypse.
Game of the Week naturally falls onto Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. I have always enjoyed the series and no way I was not going to snap up the ultimate, Switch exclusive edition of the franchise. A true shame I have no local buddies to play it with…
Gavin Lane, staff writer
I’m currently on my holidays and the 4G/3G reception in this particular corner of rural Portugal means internet distraction is (thankfully) being kept to a minimum. Therefore, I should have plenty of time to finish GRIS, Abzu and one or two others queued up in my backlog. I’d love to get involved in a match or two of the final Splatfest, but that’s dependent on the hotel WiFi, so we’ll see. I sided with Team Order purely because it’s Marina’s team and as tentacle-haired ladies go, Marina’s particularly lovely. Stop judging me!
Robert Ramsey, Push Square deputy editor
Yes, you read that right — I’ll be sitting down to play some Nintendo Switch this weekend. Naturally, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is on the docket — a family favourite and once things get heated, it’s incredibly difficult to put down. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is also on the agenda, I think. I’ve loved me some Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled over the last few weeks, but there’s only one king of the kart racers, and it’s Mario.
Which games are you playing this weekend? (98 votes)
The First DLC Pack For Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Releases This September
In celebration of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order arriving on the Switch, the Marvel Games panel at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con revealed Loki was joining the alliance on day one and also announced Cyclops and Colossus from X-Men would show up on 30th August.
This followed with a teaser of one of the three DLC packs from the game’s Expansion Pass. It featured Blade, Moon Knight, The Punisher and Morbius from Marvel Knights. Thanks to a listing on Nintendo’s UK store, we now know the official title and release date of this first DLC pack. It’s called Marvel Knights: Curse of the Vampire and is due out on 30th September.
Have you played Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 yet? Will you be purchasing the Expansion Pass? Leave a comment down below.
SDCC 2019: New Watchmen TV Series Trailer Revealed During Comic-Con
During SDCC 2019, a new trailer for the upcoming Watchmen HBO series was released. The trailer further details the escalating conflict that will take center stage in the show: A world set after the events of the legendary comic series where police have elected to wear masks like vigilantes following a coordinated attack on cops everywhere--what's the difference between a masked policeman and a dangerous vigilante, though? That's the rub. The trailer also takes time to flesh out the motivations of some of the key characters, some more familiar for fans of the comics than others. You can watch the new San Diego Comic-Con trailer above.
Based on the comic of the same name, Watchmen takes place in an alternate version of the US in which vigilantes rose to prominence and then quickly became outlawed after billionaire "philanthropist" Adrien Veidt staged a catastrophic attack on New York City to prompt a sort of unification of the world in shared terror of extraterrestrial threats. Seriously, there's a giant squid and everything--it's just as crazy as it sounds.
In the show, however, costumed heroes as criminals and the police have stepped into their place, wearing masks and bending laws and reigning terror down on the people they're supposed to be protecting. Superheroes may still exist in this new status quo, however--several characters from the comics are featured in the trailer, including Hooded Justice and the omnipotent blue Doctor Manhattan, who moved to Mars during the events of the comics and apparently remains there.
Watchmen has always been, at its core, an exploration of the "reality" of a society populated with vigilantes--superpowered or otherwise, and a text looking to question the ability of anyone to engage in violent actions with little accountability. The trailer suggests that tone will be maintained, though from a completely different angle.
Airing on HBO, Watchmen will debut in October 2019.
Hori Announces New Line Of Officially Licensed Accessories For Switch Lite
The prolific peripheral maker Hori has announced it has been selected as an officially licensed launch partner for the Nintendo Switch Lite. As a result, it will be working closely with Nintendo from an “early stage” to produce “a robust line” of accessories, which will be available alongside the launch of the system on 20th September.
Hori intends to offer storage and screen protection accessories, and many “other items” that will be available at retailers around the globe. In the PR, Hori said it was incredibly proud to be a launch partner:
HORI has worked closely with Nintendo to develop these products and is proud to be a launch partner supporting the Nintendo Switch Lite.
Are you glad to hear you’ll be able to pick up some Hori accessories when the Switch Lite is released? Do you intend to purchase Nintendo’s dedicated portable hardware? Leave a comment below.
Machinations.io is a fairly rare breed, a tool dedicated to game design. Currently in a free beta, Machinations is a browser based tool for designing and simulating mechanics for gameplay.
Descriptions for the Machinations.io website FAQ:
Machinations.io is a browser-based platform to design, balance and simulate game systems. It allows you to map any game system in an interactive diagram, set parameters that define elements and the relationship between them, and visualise the way in which these systems work. Based on that, you can simulate different outcomes, plot results and balance your game economy.
If you are familiar with diagramming software like Visio or have used a mind mapping application, you have a decent understanding of Machinations. Machinations is however one of those tools that is easier to understand when seen in action, so I would recommend watching the video below.
Netflix Releases Its First Official Teaser For Season One Of The Witcher
After what feels like an incredibly long wait, Netflix has finally released the first trailer for its live-action version of The Witcher, starring Superman’s Henry Cavill as the White Wolf.
In this first look, we find out a bit about the lore within the universe of the Witcher, see some of the well-known characters from the series and witness an eight-legged monster surface from the depths of a swamp.
As previously explained, this series is based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s popular line of fantasy novels, rather than the video games – this includes The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year. The Netflix series is “coming soon” and will be comprised of eight one-hour long episodes.
To help promote the show, Netflix has opened up dedicated social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Take a look at the teaser trailer above and tell us what you think down below.
In particular, Smith discussed how the myriad weapons and gadgets that players touted in Ratchet and Clank drove the gadgets and powers that players pick up during the course of Marvel’s Spider-Man. “That was something where we were able to leverage the experience we had building [Ratchet and Clank] weapons and awesome gadgets in previous games to integrate that into combat.”
