This Week in Gaming: March 13
Industry News
Nintendo To Debut A 3 Part "Making Of" Documentary For Breath Of The Wild
Tomorrow at 6 AM PT, we’ll be debuting a three-part series called The Making of The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild! pic.twitter.com/bTDROEZ8i0
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 13, 2017
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PlayStation Store To Start Charging Tax On Purchases (State Dependant)
On April 1st, Sony of America will be charging taxes on any digital purchases from their store, from music, to movies and TV shows, to video games. Services like PS Vue, PS Now, and PS Plus will also be subjected to tax as well. The following states will have to pay taxes next month: Alabama, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It is unknown at this time if the rest of North America will be forced to pay tax, or if this is purely a United States thing.
We are writing to inform you that PlayStation Store, including all services such as PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and PlayStation Music, will start collecting tax in your state starting April 1, 2017. The sales tax charged on each order is determined by your state, county and city tax rates.
SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox (Check your own email to see if you have an email from Sony regarding this)
Steam To Add 10% GST To All Game Purchases In Certain Countries
Following the above news, it appears Sony won't be the only one imposing a new tax on digital goods. Starting this month, Steam will be adding a tax rate according to where you live, and it will be rolling out for the following countries: Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, South Africa, and India. Australia will be hit the hardest, with a 10% tax to each purchase.
SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox
Colin Moriarty Leaves Kinda Funny Week After Controversial Joke
For anyone that consumes podcasts in the gaming realm, you may have heard of PSILOVEYOUXOXO or the Kinda Funny Games cast or a variety of other podcasts that have featured former IGN Head Writer Colin Moriarty. Moriarty was known for his contrite and polarizing views on politics and gaming and the blend of the two mediums. The podcast he co-hosted with Greg Miller, also formerly of IGN, was a large success and go-to for many a PlayStation fan.
Following the week of Women’s remembrance day, Moriarty came under fire after making a controversial tweet using the hashtag, A Day Without Women, and tweeting, “Ah, Finally, Peace and Quiet.” Hours after posting it, Greg Miller tweeted an apology and that he did not agree with the tweet, and subsequently announced Moriarty would not be attending PAX EAST with the rest of the Kinda Funny crew.
And now, nearly a week later, Moriarty has left the company to, “Pursue a career in the political spectrum and venture into philosophy.” There is much speculation around the event, with many citing the real reason that the company was being too protectionist and was going out of its way to censor Moriarty. Whatever the reason, Moriarty will be missed, and he is sure to continue his career and assert his opinions elsewhere.
Thanks to @chavosaur for writing the above.
General News
Ex-Burnout Developers Are Working On A Spiritual Successor To The Series
You might remember the Burnout franchise, a racing series from the mid-2000s, which had 5 mainline entries and 3 spinoffs, before the company went on to pitch a failed F-Zero concept game to Nintendo, and from there on focused on making Need For Speed games thereafter. The series' lead director, Alex Ward, is currently working on making a spiritual successor for the Burnout series, codenamed Project Idaho. The Tweet above shows off a teaser image for the upcoming game.
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de Blob Coming To PC
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Superbeat XONiC Coming to Consoles
Rhythm game Superbeat XONiC will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this June, both physical and digitally. In North America, the PS4 physical copy will retail for $39.99 and will come with the game's soundtrack, which includes over 50 songs. Europe won't be getting this edition, though. All the PS Vita version's DLC will also be coming to the home console version of the game as well. GBAtemp reviewed this game back when it initially launched, and you can read what I thought about the game HERE.
SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox
NieR Automata Comes to Steam on March 17
After a ton of confusion from Platinum Games regarding the PC release of Nier Automata, the game finally gets confirmed for a Steam release on March 17, 2017.
SOURCEKickstarted ToeJam & Earl Game Coming To Nintendo Switch
Back in late 2015, Humanature Studios created a Kickstarted to fund a fourth ToeJam & Earl game, receiving a little over $500,000 (100k more than their goal). The game is set to launch this year, and it has just been announced that the game will be getting a Nintendo Switch version. The game was shown off at PAX-East, letting players see a small demo of what the game will look like. Backers of the title will also be getting a private demo as well, later on.
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Rocket League Getting New Dropshot Mode
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Zero Escape Developer Teases New Project
Kotaro Uchikoshi, the man behind the Zero Escape series, was at GDC 2017 in order to reveal that he's working on a new game, codenamed Project: Psync. There is nothing else known about the game at the time of writing, only that it was possible due to the success of his Zero Escape series.
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Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds Launches This May
Idea Factory International will be bringing the remastered version of their visual novel Hakouki to the west this year. The game will release on May 16 in North America, and May 19 in Europe, for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV. Hakuoki is an otome visual novel about romance and samurai, which originally launched in 2008 for the PlayStation 2.
SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox
Rumor: Crash N.Sane Trilogy Might Be Coming To PC
Previously reported by @Ericzander that a Tweet from PlayStation Ireland stated that the upcoming Crash Bandicoot remake "would be coming to PS4 first", leaving the door open for other platforms, we now get another reiteration of this, thanks to a recording at PAX. The video showcases a Sony representative saying that the N.Sane Trilogy will run at 60FPS on PlayStation 4...and PC. Of course, it's not a confirmation, but just more information that hints at the game being a multiplatform title after a timed exclusivity period.
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Resogun Getting Spiritual Sequel
Developer Housemarque has teamed up with Resogun's lead developer, Eugene Jarvis, to create a follow up to Resogun, titled Nex Machina. The game is a twin-stick shooter, which is heavily inspired by classic games such as Robotron and Smash TV. The game is set to release sometime in 2017 for PS4 and PC.
Housemarque, the creators of Resogun, and Eugene Jarvis invite you on a trip back to the age of arcades and play Nex Machina, the twinstick shooter of this generation. Destroy the evil robots, free the humans and defeat your friends' high scores along with their dreams of success. Do you have what it takes to make it to the top?
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Fan Projects
Super Mario Sunshine Multiplayer Mod Beta Released
Blastoff Studios, some indie developers known for making simple script editors, have now released a mod that allows you to play Super Mario Sunshine with 2 players at once. The mod is still early in development, as it's currently just a beta, but it certainly works well, from what I've personally tested so far. The second player gets to play as Shadow Mario, and players can pick each other up and throw one another, resulting in amusing stunts, and being able to make insanely short work of the game's bosses.
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Tear Ring Saga Gets English Patch
Aethin, a member of Fire Emblem focused forum Serenes Forest, has released a full translation patch for the Japanese-only title Tear Ring Saga. The title is a PS1 exclusive game, which released in the year 2000, coming from some ex-Nintendo staff, including most notably, Shouzou Kaga, the creator of the Fire Emblem series. Tear Ring Saga plays nearly identical to classic Fire Emblem games, and now, for the first time, is available to play fully in English thanks to the translation team's efforts.
SOURCEMetal Gear Online Gets Revived For PS3 Users
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Fan-Made Mother 4 Project Rebrands Itself to Prevent DMCA
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RPCS3 Progress: Demon's Souls
The developers of RPCS3 have made a great amount of progress, because as of last week, they've released a build of the emulator that can not only boot PS3 exclusive title Demon's Souls, but one that can actually run the game, albeit in a stuttering manner. At the source below, you can read a detailed blog of how the developers managed to get the game running.
Meanwhile it became obvious that much more work was still needed. The game makes use of many of the features the platform provides, and thanks to this many imperfections in the graphics implementation surfaced. Lead graphics developer kd-11 immediately started debugging and soon enough fixed the videos and the main menu:
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Breath Of The Wild Is Already Running In CEMU
It didn't take long for Nintendo's latest Zelda game to run in CEMU, the Wii U emulator. The 1.7.3 build of the program can manage to run the game in open world sections in a juttery manner, while also getting a full 30FPS during dungeons. The above video even shows the game being rendered in 4K/2160p as well, so there's some clear progress being shown off!
Citra Progress: Super Mario 3D Land
Game Trailers
Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Mass Effect: Andromeda Gameplay Part 3
Sonic Mania Green Hill Act 2
Nier Automata Launch Trailer
Monster Hunter XX Opening Movie (JP)
16 Minutes of Mordor: Shadow Of War
Release Calendar
April 4
Persona 5 (PS3, PS4)
April 11
Yooka-Laylee (PC, PS4, XB1)
Stardew Valley Collector's Edition (PS4)
April 18
The Silver Case Remastered (PS4)
Voodoo Vince Remastered (PC, XB1)
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PS4, XB1, NS)
April 20
Syberia 3 (PC, PS4, NS, XB1)
April 25
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 (PC, PS4)
Puyo Puyo Tetris (PS4, NS)
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 (PC, PS4, XB1)
April 27
Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness (PC)
Warhammer 40,000
Dawn of War 3 (PC)
April 28
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS)
Little Nightmares (PC, PS4, XB1)
Constructor HD (PC, PS4, XB1, NS)
Portal Knights (PC, PS4, XB1)
April TBA
Locke's Quest (PC, PS4, XB1)