The Serious Sam Developer Is Porting Its New Game Engine To Switch
As more publishers and developers jump on the Switch bandwagon, more game engines are being made compatible with the system.
During an interview with Wccftech a few weeks ago, Croteam’s CTO Alen Ladavac and Marketing Manager Daniel Lucic revealed the developer – responsible for the Serious Sam series – was working on making its new game engine compatible with Nintendo’s hybrid system. Unfortunately, they’re “not sure” about its current status or when exactly it will be made available.
“Yeah. It’s become very streamlined to just ship one of our games on Xbox One or PS4 or Nintendo Switch. We are working on all of those platforms to make sure that we can at any point ship any game…As long as that platform can actually handle the amount of content, we’re probably not gonna ship the next big game older platform. But in theory, the engine supports a number of platforms.”
When asked about the possibility of the first-person puzzle game The Talos Principle being released on the Switch, Daniel Lucic simply said it was “likely” to happen. If that wasn’t convincing enough, for some time now the official Serious Sam and Croteam Twitter accounts have been teasing Switch support. There’s also the mention of “NX” in the engine’s Editor.
Would you like to play Croteam’s games on your Nintendo device? Tell us below.
Nintendo Newsletter Suggests Cadence Of Hyrule Will Be Released This Month
If you had to pick one of the most surprising Nintendo Switch announcements so far this year, a standout would likely be Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer. The game was originally revealed during the March Nindie Direct showcase and is being developed by Brace Yourself Games and published by Spike Chunsoft.
Regarding a release date, the game is currently listed for “Spring 2019” on Nintendo’s official website. In saying this, a recent Nintendo Europe email – promoting all of the games coming to the Switch this May –includes Cadence of Hyrule in between the upcoming Resident Evil releases and Assassin’s Creed III Remastered. So, with any luck, we could be playing this rhythmic action-adventure before the end of the month.
For anyone who missed the Nindie announcement, Cadence of Hyrule is modeled on Brace Yourself Games’ original rhythm-combat title, Crypt of the NecroDancer. In the new game, you can play as Link or Princess Zelda as you go on a quest to save Hyrule. Here’s a bit more about it, along with the trailer:
As Link or Princess Zelda, players explore randomly generated overworld and dungeons on a quest to save Hyrule, and every beat of the 25 remixed Legend of Zelda tunes is a chance to move, attack, defend and more. From modern-looking Lynels to the Hyrulean Soldiers of old, players must master the instinctive movements of each pixel-art enemy and strategically outstep them in rhythmic combat using an arsenal of iconic items from The Legend of Zelda, as well as the spells and weapons from Crypt of the NecroDancer.
Have you been anticipating this release? Did you play Crypt of the NecroDancer? Tell us below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-06-2019, 06:48 AM - Forum: Lounge
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John Wick: Chapter 3 Twitter Reviews Are In
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the latest movie in the hit action series, in which Keanu Reeves stars as a former assassin reluctantly brought back into action. It hits theaters later this month, but some critics have already seen the movie, and their first reactions are rolling in via social media.
The movie is directed by Chad Stahelski, who helmed John Wick: Chapter 2 and co-directed the first movie. It also stars Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Halle Berry, Lance Reddick, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Huston, Jason Mantzoukas, and Mark Dacascos.
The reactions on Twitter so far are very positive. Unsurprisingly, many critics have highlighted the action sequences, which go beyond anything seen in the series so far in terms of their scale and invention. There is also praise for the way the movie broadens the mythology of its hitman underworld, plus the performances from Reeves, Berry, and Dillon.
Check below for a roundup of reactions. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum releases on May 17. For more, check out the latest trailer and this tense first clip.
#JohnWick3 continues to build on the series' mythology and has some of the coolest action and most memorable side characters of the entire series. I'm not sure about everything it adds, and certain things will be controversial (no spoilers). But overall it's more @JohnWickMovie! pic.twitter.com/Vodcx2nJwE
Oh, and #JohnWick3 is another gorgeous and inventive action extravaganza. I think JW2 is a "better" movie, but this one is completely entertaining and a living video game. #KeanuReeves is once again a force of nature. He actually looks his age, which adds to the pathos. pic.twitter.com/qAojlFhV5n
#JohnWick3 is AWESOME. Some of the action set pieces are so insane you’ll wonder how director Chad Stahelski and his team filmed them. Saying that, the @Halleberry/#KeanuReeves set piece featuring her dogs might be my favorite. Wait till you see this one. Esp if you like dogs... pic.twitter.com/ym2Tn012xw
If you want more John Wick, #JohnWick3 definitely delivers. More insane fights (the Casablanca sequence, OMG), more lore, more dogs (big plus!). pic.twitter.com/e7k6h1qDWD
#JohnWick3: A eye-popping, jaw-dropping, show-stopping killer. Extends world-building dynamics beautifully, but also assigns meaningful resonance to character-driven action. Keanu Reeves is perfect, @AsiaKateDillon is magnetic & @halleberry kicks ass. ❤️’d every stellar minute! pic.twitter.com/cIBF61IZK1
Onto my proper #JohnWick3 reaction: Pure visceral cinema. After the dramatic world expansion of CHAPTER 2, CHAPTER 3 returns to a leaner, exhilarating story chock full of breathless, bone-crunching action and even a few laughs. I was sweating 30 minutes in. This movie RULES.
#JohnWick3 is the electrifying end, if it is the end, of John Wick. It’s not a perfect movie but it cements John Wick as the definitive action icon of the 2010s. The movie begins on a high note and, exhaustingly, keeps it up the entire time. Also: VERY GOOD DOGS. pic.twitter.com/h5TVkNy3sP
There's a bit in #JohnWick 3 where Keanu and a bunch of bad dudes are just chucking knives at each other for about five minutes straight and it's pretty much the greatest thing ever.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-06-2019, 06:48 AM - Forum: Lounge
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The Call of Duty series has sold over 300 million games
Newsbrief: Activision Blizzard says that the Call of Duty series has now sold over 300 million games since its start in 2003.
CEO Bobby Kotick shared the milestone in a call with investors this week (transcribed by SeekingAlpha), saying that this makes Call of Duty “one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.” Just looking at games, its a bar not many franchises have cleared. With its 300 million lifetime sales, the Call of Duty series is now behind only Pokemon and Mario in terms of total games sold.
In its 15-plus years, Call of Duty has released close to 30 different games from a variety of developers across generations of consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. This particular milestone comes as Activision is pushing the series’ esports scene and just ahead of the release of Call of Duty mobile outside of China.
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!
Get Over Here! Mortal Kombat 11 Available Now on Xbox One Mortal Kombat 11 battles its way to Xbox One today culminating in nearly 25 years’ worth of lore, combat, and brutality. NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2) returns once again as the award-winning developer for Mortal Kombat 11… Read more
Sign Up for Xbox Game Pass and Help Support Red Nose Day Microsoft is proud to announce its support for Red Nose Day, a charitable campaign from Comic Relief USA to end child poverty, one nose at a time. Originating in the United Kingdom, Red Nose Day launched in the United States in 2015 and to-date has raised nearly $150 million… Read more
Gears of War Esports Pro Circuit to Wrap Up Season 2 in Boston After 15 Pro Circuit events and a total prize pool of $3 million, the final Gears Pro Circuit event of Gears of War 4 is here. With $300,000 on the line, the top pro and amateur teams from around the world will gather in Boston on April 26-28 at the Hynes Convention Center… Read more
Set Sail for the Shores of Gold in Sea of Thieves’ Anniversary Update The Anniversary Update for Sea of Thieves is available for free on April 30 with Xbox Game Pass or on Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, and our biggest update yet is packed with content we know will appeal to players of all kinds. From the glory and gunfire of competitive… Read more
Welcome to the German Province of Trüberbrook Trüberbrook is an atmospheric sci-fi mystery adventure game with handmade scenery. American physicist Hans Tannhauser surprisingly wins a trip to the sleepy village of Trüberbrook. The tranquility advertised in the travel guide is more than welcome… Read more
Vaporum Brings Steampunk to a Rejuvenated Genre When deciding on the scale and complexity of the world in Vaporum, we knew we had to aim for something smaller. With four people, you cannot create huge worlds in a reasonable amount of time. At least not if you want the world to be vibrant and filled… Read more
Free Play Days: Gears of War 4 and The Crew 2 Standard Edition Grab a friend and play Gears of War 4 and The Crew 2 Standard Edition for free during the Xbox Live Gold’s Free Play Days event. Experience adrenaline-filled action as you take on the Swarm or the American motorsports scene. The Free Play Days event begins Thursday… Read more
Xbox Launches Tourism Campaign for Game Worlds with ‘Visit Xbox’ Xbox is excited to announce “Visit Xbox,” a campaign that celebrates virtual travel and a new kind of tourism, exploring the beauty of gaming beyond traditional gameplay. Showcasing Xbox One X Enhanced games which have been updated or built specifically to take advantage… Read more
The Top 5 Features of Madden NFL 20’s New Face of the Franchise: QB1 Have you always dreamed of taking the journey of an NFL superstar? The release date for the next iteration of the greatest NFL game on the planet isn’t many months away, and while there are many fantastic new modes and updates to favorite modes… Read more
The Origin Story of Hindsight 20/20, Coming Soon to Xbox One Hindsight 20/20 is a 3D third person action-adventure game in which you can relive your past and fix the mistakes you made for a different gameplay and story experience. Each playthrough of the game provides a handcrafted journey with endings that are personalized… Read more
Pre-order Remnant: From the Ashes Today on Xbox One Remnant: From the Ashes challenges up to three players to test their limits in intense, third-person combat against over 100 deadly monsters and more than 20 epic bosses across four distinct worlds with dynamically-generated levels that offer endless worlds to explore… Read more
Purple Chicken Spaceman Pre-orders Presently Procurable on Xbox One When we were creating Purple Chicken Spaceman, a game about an off-color fowl flying through space and fighting aliens, obviously our primary concern was realism. Gamers are, by nature, logical creatures and will find flaws and holes in any story…. Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 30 to May 3 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 to Xbox One… Read more
Random: Leave Cardboard Behind With This 3D-Printed Labo VR Headset
Since the release of the Nintendo Labo VR Kit last month, users have been looking for unique ways to enhance their virtual experience. A lot of people have simply added a strap to the headset so they can play for prolonged periods, while others have gone to the extent of rebuilding the device with more durable materials.
3D printing enthusiast Alex Blackmore actually designed two different 3D-printed Labo headsets. It took him a total of 40 hours to print and paint the designs which utilise the same lenses packaged with the Labo VR kits. The first version has you slide the Switch into the headset and is “fully compatible” with the VR Toy-Cons and with the second one you drop the system into the unit. You can download both designs from Autodesk Tinkercad.
Kotaku’s Laura Kate Dale actually printed out the headset and said it was comfortable and light enough to use for a good few hours. You can even charge the Switch at the same time. Here are a few additional photos of the 3D printout:
So, if you own a 3D printer – what are you waiting for? Print this 3D headset and see what it’s like for yourself.
The PixiJS HTML5 2D rendering library just had their first release in almost 2 years, with the release of PixiJS v5. PixiJS is an open source, MIT licenses library available here on Github.
The v5 release experienced a great deal of internal refactoring to improve modularity and performance but also resulted in a 20% reduction in size compared to v4. The API however stayed relatively uniform so migration shouldn’t be difficult, with a supporting migration guide available here. The new version includes new sprite batching support that should have a pretty profound effect on drawing several different sprites. The Graphics object also received a few new tricks such as now being cloneable, supporting holes, texture fills and more.
Perhaps the biggest new feature is the new mid level API that has been added, that Pixi itself builds on top of. Describe in the announcement blog like such:
Ok so I saved the best till last as I think this isn’t far the coolest part of v5. The midlevel API. We created an API that basically abstracts as much of WebGL as possible but still keeping all the power, giving you guys the power to create awesome WebGL that is automatically optimised for you!
In fact all of v5 is built on top of this API. Expect a more detailed post and examples for this one soon.
Additionally, the community created an excellent new tool in the form of the browser based Pixi Playground, a complete editor and runtime environment for playing with Pixi applications.
Here's What Activision Blizzard Thinks About Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming is poised to potentially be the Next Big Thing for gaming, and one of the companies that stands to benefit the most is Activision Blizzard, according to CEO Robert Kotick. In an earnings call, Kotick said new platforms like Google Stadia are good for gaming to help grow the market, but these platforms can't succeed without content.
Activision Blizzard owns and controls decades worth of content, and that positions the company uniquely, Kotick said. "When you own 30 years of IP like we do, there's probably never been a better time to be in the games business," Kotick said. "When these big, well-funded companies are building out platforms where they have limited amounts of content to actually serve up to customers, I'd say there's a great opportunity for a company like ours."
"For starters, they will all try to broaden the audience for gaming and make big investments and commitments to doing so and that's just helpful for growing the market," Kotick added. "But in each case, none of these platforms can succeed without great content. Truthfully, they really don't know how to make it. So when you think about what will be required, it will be support from us [and other game publishers] to allow them to actually build an audience. We have a better audience than most to capitalise on all these new platforms."
Google Stadia's announcement in March was light on content partners, leading some to shrug the service off. Stadia boss Phil Harrison teased that more details will be announced in June, so it could be soon that we learn more about who Google is partnering with. Stadia has also created an internal game development team, Stadia Games led by industry veteran Jade Raymond, that will create games for Stadia.
Microsoft is working on its own game-streaming service, xCloud, and it's not a stretch to imagine that the company will tap into its long list of owned studios to make new content for the platform. Sony, too, has its PlayStation Now streaming service that will likely continue to leverage first-party studios in an addition to third-parties to build out its content catalog as Xbox is expected to do.
Outside of those companies that are directly tied to game development, Amazon, Verizon, and Wal-Mart are among the non-gaming companies that are confirmed or rumoured to be building cloud gaming platforms. Those companies will need game content to build out their services.
Going back to Kotick, he said distribution models are always evolving and changing for games, and he expects this to continue with cloud gaming. In the next 5-10 years, Kotick said there will be "more ways and places to engage players [and] that serves us better than almost any other company." Kotick added that, beyond partnering with the new cloud gaming services, Activision has a unique opportunity to connect directly with its massive network of 345 million monthly active players across its catalog of games.
Kotick is not the first gaming executive to discuss the issue of cloud gaming companies and a potential struggle to get compelling content. Xbox boss Mike Nichols said about Stadia, "They don't have the content."
What do you think about cloud gaming? Let us know in the comments below! You can also read GameSpot's cloud gaming primer to find out everything you need to know.
