Many believed the success of the NES Classic Edition all but guaranteed that other Nintendo systems would get similar treatment. Its discontinuation caused some concerns that Nintendo was more interested in Switch (and re-selling games individually through that system's eShop). But Nintendo has now assuaged any concerns, revealing that the Super Nintendo will receive its own standalone retro system.
The SNES Classic Edition is priced at $80 in the US and is scheduled for release on September 29 in both the US and Europe. It features a downright impressive library of 21 games, spanning classics from the Metroid, Mario, Zelda, Castlevania, Mega Man, and Mother series, among others. Most notable is Star Fox 2, a game that was never actually released.
We've compiled a gallery of all of these games along with some basic ideas to give you some sense of what to expect--provided you're able to get your hands on one. The NES Classic Edition famously faced severe supply shortages, a situation that seems likely to repeat with the SNES Classic Edition given Nintendo's history. Whatever the case, click through the gallery above for a preview of what awaits future SNES Classic Edition owners.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
The third core entry in the Contra series, The Alien Wars features denser and more involved levels than those in previous games and allows you to have two weapons at once. It's among the high points for the series.
Donkey Kong Country
Rare had already established itself with games like Battletoads, but Donkey Kong Country cemented its status as one of the most reliable game developers for Nintendo platforms. Like so many other classic SNES games, it's a platformer, albeit one featuring at-the-time cutting-edge, pre-rendered 3D graphics. It also includes what remains one of the best video game soundtracks ever.
EarthBound
A potential Mother 3 western release may have acquired the same sort of mythical quality of games like Half-Life 3, but that doesn't prevent Mother 2--released outside Japan as Earthbound--from being one of the classics of the SNES era. This role-playing game takes Ness and his party into dungeons, caves, and villages across its sprawling world. Although it shares a lot with other RPGs to come out around this time, it is notable in part for its unusual oblique perspective, rather than the common top-down or isometric perspectives.
Final Fantasy III
More than 20 years later, we still have to point out that this is actually Final Fantasy VI. It's the story of Terra and a large group of resistance fighters battling an evil empire and its mad clown leader, Kefka. Considered one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made, it was the first game in the series to release on Super Nintendo in the US back in 1994.
F-Zero
In 1990, Nintendo released a racer in F-Zero that would become a fan-favorite franchise for the company. Its fast action, impressive graphics, and future setting not only pleased fans the world over but also helped popularize the futuristic racer sub-genre. It was even (semi-) revived in Mario Kart 8, which received two F-Zero-themed tracks as DLC, though fans are still waiting for a proper sequel--the most recent release is F-Zero Climax, which came out all the way back in 2004. At least now we can play the original in all its 16-bit glory.
Kirby Super Star
Nintendo released Kirby Super Star as featuring "8 games in one," but most of them retain the classic platformer gameplay, where Kirby battles his way across levels by jumping, flying, and inhaling enemies, which he can spit out or swallow to copy their abilities. Levels include Spring Breeze, which copies the gameplay of Kirby's Dream Land, and Gourmet Race, where Kirby must race against King Dedede while eating as much food as possible.
Image credit: Wikia
Kirby's Dream Course
In the years before the Mario Golf series would take their position as Nintendo's dominant mascot-golfing games, Kirby's Dream Course offered a much different Kirby experience: mini-golf. You're tasked with using Kirby as the golf ball, launching him at enemies who, once hit, turn into the hole. Kirby can steal abilities from enemies, which allow him to get through obstacles that he otherwise would be unable to clear. There are 64 single-player and 32 two-player holes.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
After the overwhelming reception to The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, Nintendo was under pressure to deliver with its first Zelda title for the SNES. In response, the company delivered what is widely regarded to be one of the greatest video games of all time, and its legacy is well and truly alive today. As well as a GBA re-release and Virtual Console ports on Wii, Wii U, and 3DS, Nintendo released a spiritual successor--A Link Between Worlds--for 3DS in 2013. But it was A Link to the Past that helped cement Zelda as one of the most innovative and downright best franchises in video games.
Mega Man X
Mega Man X was a critical and commercial success, spawning a whole spinoff series of action-platformer games that continued until 2008's Mega Man X8. This original SNES title was praised by fans, and it has been credited with reviving the Mega Man franchise, which had begun to show its age.
Secret of Mana
One of the SNES's most-beloved and acclaimed RPGs, Secret of Mana was released by Square in 1993 as a spinoff of the Final Fantasy series. Unlike Final Fantasy games of the era, Secret of Mana featured real-time battles and an innovative cooperative multiplayer system where second and third players could jump in and out of the game. Its predecessor, called Final Fantasy Adventure in North America, was released on Game Boy in 1991. The third game in the series, Seiken Densetsu 3, has never been released outside of Japan.
Star Fox
Star Fox marked the debut of the series and protagonist Fox McCloud. It sees players fly through a polygonal world in a spaceship, engaging in dogfights and destroying giant enemies while avoiding buildings and other obstacles. The game's cartridge came equipped with a special Super FX chip, which allowed Star Fox to feature visuals and environments that would not have otherwise been possible on the SNES hardware.
Star Fox 2
The long-lost sequel to the original Star Fox is getting its first official release on the SNES Classic. Originally scheduled to debut in 1995, Nintendo infamously canceled Star Fox 2 before it could be released due to the impending launch of the Nintendo 64, and many of its gameplay ideas would be incorporated into Star Fox 64. Despite the fact that it was never released, Star Fox 2 had a profound impact on the series and introduced many new gameplay elements, including a unique real-time map screen and the rival team Star Wolf.
Image credit: Wikipedia
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Originally designed for arcades, this SNES port features the original gameplay of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (in the form of a Normal Mode) and a Turbo Mode, which allows players to increase the speed of the game by up to four settings (six settings, with a cheat code). Champion Edition was the first Street Fighter game to allow you to play as one of the bosses and was the first to allow mirror matches (where you play against the same character in versus). Hyper Fighting's Turbo Mode provided a faster-paced version of the game, making for a more challenging experience.
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is most frequently cited as the series' high point, but Super Castlevania IV is also among the franchise's best entries. To some degree, it's a remake of the original Castlevania, although it stands as its own game. It features the classic side-scrolling style of other games in the series, but features more of an action focus than the original title.
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Capcom's side-scrolling adventure Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts was the third in the series and is still one of the company's top-selling games of all time. You play as Arthur, a knight tasked with rescuing the princess from the demonic Emperor Sardius. You battle your way across the map, upgrading armor and weapons. And, true to the series, once you reach the final boss, you must go back to the start of the game, gain a special weapon, and play through again to defeat Sardius.
Super Mario Kart
The game that defined a genre, Super Mario Kart is the first entry in Nintendo's long-running series and perhaps the most successful non-platformer Mario game at the time of its release in 1992. It still holds up remarkably well today, offering what now feels like a streamlined take on kart racing, complete with the classic--and still excellent--Battle mode.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Mario's first role-playing adventure took the plumber not only to new corners of the Mushroom Kingdom but into a new genre entirely. Developed by RPG veterans Square, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars traded Mario's trademark hopping and bopping for turn-based battles and stat management. With a touching story that saw the plumber team up with a memorable cast of characters (including, for the first time, his nemesis Bowser), Super Mario RPG remains not only an RPG classic but one of the finest titles released for SNES.
Super Mario World
Arguably the best game in a series full of classic titles, Super Mario World is one of the greatest 2D platformers of all-time. It features the introduction of Yoshi (who enabled all sorts of new gameplay options), new power-ups, and a huge number of secrets. It was bundled with the original release of the Super Nintendo hardware.
Super Metroid
Super Metroid is one of the crowning achievements in the SNES's library. The game sees bounty hunter Samus Aran return to planet Zebes after the Space Pirate commander Ridley escaped there with the last Metroid in captivity. Featuring a complex, interconnected world to explore and a myriad of collectibles and secrets to find, Super Metroid is a masterclass in game design and remains arguably the best installment in its series.
Super Punch-Out
Long before Arms for Switch, Nintendo developed a number of surprisingly good boxing games. Super Punch-Out doesn't have the name recognition of the NES edition that featured Mike Tyson's name, but it does improve upon the earlier games with various modes and enhanced visuals.
Yoshi's Island
The SNES Classic includes Super Mario World, and here's the sequel, Yoshi's Island. Rather than take control of everyone's favorite plumber, you'll be in the dino-shoes of Yoshi, tasked with carrying Baby Mario to safety. As such, it serves as a sort of prequel to other games in the Mario series. It also is the game responsible for introducing many of the skills we've come to associate with Yoshi, such as his unique jump and the ability to produce eggs.
Dwayne Johnson might be one of the biggest action stars in the world, but he can't deliver a one-liner like Austrian icon Arnold Schwarzenegger. Johnson is currently shooting the arcade game adaptation Rampage and gave his best Arnie impression a try. The results aren't good, but Johnson still posted the result on Instagram and added a few words about what an inspiration Schwarzenegger has been. Watch the video below:
Rampage is set for release on April 20, 2018. It's directed by Brad Peyton, who also worked with Johnson on the 2015 disaster hit San Andreas. The movie co-stars Naomie Harris (Skyfall), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead), and Joe Manganiello (True Blood).
In May, Johnson revealed some plot details in typically light-hearted style. "I head up an anti-poaching unit out of Rwanda," he said. "My best friend is a rare albino gorilla named George. Very bad people infect George, an alligator, and a wolf with a serum. All three animals grow at an unprecedented rate. Their size, speed, agility, and violent aggression is off the charts.
"They go on a deadly rampage and want to destroy the world. George not happy. Me not happy. When animals like you, they lick you. When they don't like you, they kill you. I will hunt down the bad people who did this to my best friend. And when I find them, I will not lick them."
Rampage was originally released in arcades back in 1986 before being ported to more than a dozen other platforms--it has appeared on everything from the Commodore 64 to the PS2. There have also been a number of sequels produced. However, by the time the movie comes out, it will have been more than a decade since the last of these, Total Destruction, was released.
By Anonymous on Jun 26, 2017 10:40 pm Kallie and Miguel brave a night in a Korean high school in this livestream. This first person survival horror game is set in a school built on cursed land.
By Anonymous on Jun 26, 2017 10:34 pm Join Mike and Jake as they check out Wolfenstein The New Order and chat about their hopes for Wolfenstein 2 and more.
As was widely assumed in light of the success of the now-discontinued NES Classic Edition, Nintendo today confirmed a similar system featuring games for the Super Nintendo. It launches on September 29 in the United States and Europe.
As with the NES Classic Edition, the SNES Classic features HDMI output and resembles the look of the system it's based on but in a smaller form factor. But unlike that system, it comes with two controllers in the box.
In the US, the SNES Classic is priced at $80 and includes everything you'll need. We don't yet have European pricing, but we do know that the EU version lacks an AC adapter for the included USB power cable. It does, however, feature colored, Super Famicom-style buttons, as pictured below. We'll report back as we receive more details.
Square Enix has released a new update for Final Fantasy XV ahead of the game's next DLC chapter, Episode Prompto. Along with the usual bug fixes, update 1.12 adds the ability to go off-road driving with a new customization option for the Regalia.
The Type-D customization effectively converts the party's car into a monster truck. While the game previously limited the Regalia to driving along designated roads, the Type-D model allows you to manually venture off-road and drive anywhere with the vehicle. You can get the Regalia Type-D by speaking to Cindy at the Hammerhead service station. Additionally, the new update makes music from the upcoming Episode Prompto available to listen to on the car radio.
Update 1.12 is particularly large as far as updates go, weighing in at 8.65 GB. You can find the full patch notes below:
Implementation of Regalia Type-D off-road customization option (available at Hammerhead)
Conclusion of survey regarding future updates
Addition of compatibility with Episode Prompto
Addition of pieces from Episode Prompto to music player tracklist
Various bug fixes
Like the previous Final Fantasy XV DLC chapter, Episode Prompto revolves around a single member of Notcis' entourage. This particular episode finds Prompto "separated from the group and alone in an arctic environment." Based on the reveal trailer (embedded above), the chapter also seems to be a departure from the main game in terms of gameplay, featuring third-person shooting and snowmobile segments.
It has been known for some time that the current third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will end after Avengers 4 in 2019. Now Marvel boss Kevin Feige has confirmed that the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel will kick off Phase 4.
In an interview with Slashfilm, Feige explained that the dramatic events of Avengers: Infinity War and the currently untitled fourth Avengers movie will lead directly into the Homecoming sequel.
"So much happens in [the third and fouth Avengers movies], as you can imagine, and so much is affected by it, that we felt what better person to hold your hand and lead you into the next incarnation of the MCU, in a grounded, realistic manner, than Peter Parker?" he said. "So, coming out two months after Untitled Avengers, [that's what] much of what the next Spider-Man film will be about."
Avengers 4 is currently scheduled for a May 3, 2019 release, with Homecoming 2 due on July 5 of the same year. Feige went to to state that while work on the latter's script has yet to begin, the story basics were already in place. "Much like, as we went into Homecoming, we knew all the general pillars, you then need the magic of the writers and directors to bring it all to life," he said.
"So we're in that same position and we'll actually start putting pen to paper on the next Spider-Man film in the coming weeks once this film is finally released. But we do know the specifics and the timeline."
In a separate interview with JoBlo, Feige confirmed that not every hero will survive the next two Avengers movies. This isn't the first time that the Marvel boss has hinted that big changes are in store for the MCU.
"As we get to Infinity War there will be a sense of a climax," he said in April. "By the time we're at Avengers 4, 22 movies will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don't know if it's Phase 4. It might be a new thing.
"We have an idea [of what the MCU looks like post-Infinity War], and it's gonna be very, very different."
Although you can't carry over your items and skills from Destiny to Destiny 2, your looks will transfer, and you may be entitled to some exclusive rewards. Bungie has detailed what some of these look like, including a few you still have a chance to earn.
Bungie's most recent blog post explains that the studio is hesitant to reveal many of Destiny 2's acknowledgments of your accomplishments in the original Destiny. It is, however, showing off some of the emblems that you can receive.
A number of the Destiny-dependent emblems are ones that you've already missed the chance to earn, such as completing a Moment of Triumph during the game's first year or completing all eight during Year Two. Three others can still be obtained, but the window for doing so is closing--the cutoff for earning these rewards is August 1. Among the things that we know you can still do: reach Rank 2 and Rank 7 in the Age of Triumph record book, and earn a Grimoire score of more than 5,000.
In addition to showing up in orbit, emblems are now displayed on the Character as a bar along the top of the screen, as pictured above. You can see what the Destiny 1-unlockable emblems look like in the gallery above; the final three are the ones you can still get.
August 1 is also the date of the final Iron Banner event in Destiny 1, while August 11 will bring the final Trials of Osiris. The game has already received its final gameplay changes.
Destiny servers will be offline for a nine-hour window tomorrow, June 27, in preparation for the upcoming Destiny 2 beta. Bungie has also turned on server queues for Destiny, meaning you may potentially have to wait in line to get online if enough people are playing. This is being done "in preparation for Destiny ... in the event that the population exceeds the capacity of our data center." Bungie added, "Leading up to the Destiny 2 Beta and after the launch of Destiny 2, we expect players may experience this queue during times of high activity or maintenance periods."
By Anonymous on Jun 26, 2017 08:30 pm Light Fall is a high-speed platformer that lets the player create a platform in order to traverse the gorgeous worlds. Jake sits down with David Dion-Paquet to discuss the game.
Before the original Xbox was released in 2001, many doubted Microsoft's chances to compete in the video game console business. Up until that point, the company had been primarily a PC software vendor, and there hadn't been room for four major consoles. It also had to compete against the PlayStation 2 and GameCube at the time. Despite the initial stiff competition and several pitfalls along the way, the Xbox brand has made significant strides over the past 15 years to become a household name in the hardware world and a significant pillar of Microsoft's business. It has since sold well over 100 million consoles.
Let's take a walk down memory lane as we chronologically look back at all of Microsoft's consoles, hardware redesigns, and major peripherals.
Microsoft debuted its original big, black, and green Xbox in North America on November 15, 2001. It retailed for $300 and launched within the sixth generation of consoles, which made it the first major gaming system to be created by an American company since the Atari Jaguar.
Prior to its launch, Microsoft's major gaming efforts had been focused on the PC, where its Windows operating system held a monopoly on the market. Arguably the closest the Redmond, Washington-based company had gotten to launching a console was when it developed a custom version of Windows CE for the Sega Dreamcast that supported a version of its DirectX API.
After seeing how Sony's console business was detracting from PC game sales and fearing that the rival company would own the living room with the PlayStation 2, Microsoft decided to release its own system to compete. An early prototype was put together by Microsoft engineers as a side project using Dell laptop parts. Microsoft decided to invest and iterate on this design, which eventually paved the way for the Xbox to use the PC's x86 architecture, which was rare for a console at the time. The operating system was based on Windows' architectural kernel. The system was originally going to be called the DirectX Box, since it used the company's DirectX API, but was shortened to Xbox after focus groups thought it sounded better.
The console was equipped with a 32-bit Intel Celeron/Pentium III hybrid CPU clocked at 733MHz. It had 64MB of DDR SDRAM clocked at 200MHz set up in a dual-channel configuration. For its GPU, the Xbox used a custom chip from Nvidia based on the company's GeForce 3 line of graphics cards, and was clocked at 233MHz. The GPU supported Microsoft's DirectX 8 API and was capable of delivering 7.3 gigaflops of performance. Though it supported 32MB memory cards, it also came with an 8GB hard drive, which was a costly investment for the company at the time. This made it the first console to include a built-in HDD.
While developers generally agree that the Xbox was more powerful than the competing GameCube and PlayStation 2, few third-party ports took advantage of the extra processing power. It ended up selling over 24 million units, which allowed it to edge out Nintendo's system. Though it came in second that generation and established a reputation for the company in the console space, it was sold at a loss, and greatly fell short of matching the sales of the PS2, which sold over 155 million units. Despite major efforts by Microsoft, the console struggled in Japan, with some figures estimating it sold roughly half a million systems. Compared to the competition, the Xbox became a haven for more western games and first-person shooters, the latter of which were relatively rare on consoles.
Halo was a surprise hit for Microsoft and catapulted the system to the main-stage. The company had acquired developer Bungie for the game and the Xbox-launch exclusive raised the bar for first-person shooters on consoles. It also became a fan-favorite at local LAN parties thanks in part to the fact that it supported up to 16 players: Four consoles with four attached controllers could sync up over their Ethernet ports. The Xbox was the first console to support a broadband Ethernet port, and it paved the way for Xbox Live, Microsoft's subscription-based online gaming service. Xbox Live was able to grow and ride the success of Halo 2, which sold over eight million units. The online service itself peaked that generation with around 20 million users.
Competed Against: Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube
Notable Games: Burnout 3: Takedown, Conker Live and Reloaded, Dead or Alive 3, Fable, Forza Motorsport, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, MechAssault, Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Project Gotham Racing, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Xbox "Duke" Controller
The controller that originally launched with the system was nicknamed the Duke. It set the precedent for Xbox controllers to use two offset analog sticks, which was unconventional at the time, coupled with a D-pad. It also had six analog face buttons along with two analog triggers. It offered a memory card slot up at the top and introduced a breakaway cable as a safety measure against tripping. Perhaps its most notable characteristic, however, was its size. It was criticized for being big and heavy--hence the nickname--and would soon be replaced by a slimmer S model.
Xbox Controller S
Microsoft originally designed the Controller S for Japan, where it tailored the ergonomics for smaller hands. The S model was slimmer and turned out to be more comfortable as a result. It eventually replaced the Duke internationally in 2002. It also set the precedent for the four main face buttons to be spread evenly in a diamond pattern.
Xbox 360
Microsoft released its second console in North America on November 22, 2005, roughly a year before its PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii competitors. The Xbox 360 came in two SKUs at launch. The higher-end Pro Edition came with a 20GB hard drive and retailed for $400, but Microsoft also wanted to offer a cheaper model that hit a $300 price point and released the Core model as a result. This SKU lacked a hard drive, which caused some confusion among game developers who weren't initially sure how to design games around this fragmented constraint. Users could purchase and add an optional Xbox hard drive to the console, however.
The first batch of Xbox 360s were white, though you could swap the front face-plate to customize the aesthetics a bit.
Over its lifespan, Microsoft's second console drastically outperformed its freshman effort, and sold over 84 million units worldwide. It continued to underperform in Japan, however, with estimates suggesting that it sold roughly 1.5 million units. Despite struggling in the land of the rising sun, it beat the PlayStation 3, which initially struggled to sell at its starting $600 price, by roughly four million units worldwide. It remains Microsoft's best-selling system to date.
The Xbox 360 moved away from the x86 architecture that the original console used. Microsoft instead opted to go with an IBM PowerPC solution. Its triple-core, six-thread CPU was codenamed Xenon and was clocked at 3.2GHz. After getting over a legal payment dispute with Nvidia over the original Xbox's GPU, Microsoft decided to go with ATI for its graphics. The 360 used a custom solution codenamed Xenos that was based on the manufacturer's Radeon X1800 graphics card. For memory, the system used 512MB of shared GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700MHz. While the memory was a very costly investment for Microsoft at the time, the company met with studios like Epic Games to see what games like Gears of War would need to properly run. The console supported DirectX 9 and developers generally saw the Xbox 360 as being easier to program for than the PS3 with its complicated Cell processor. Multiplatform games on the system tended to look better on the 360 as a result.
Via software emulation, the console offered backwards compatibility with roughly half the original Xbox library, though many ports did suffer from glitches of varying severity.
The 360 eventually became a popular living room entertainment center. It supported burgeoning streaming services like Netflix and also allowed users to stream media from local PCs on the network. It supported CDs, DVDs, and the now-defunct HD DVD standard via an optional add-on accessory.
While the console originally shipped with an Xbox 360 Dashboard UI that offered a tab-based "Blade" interface, the system would eventually get multiple overhauls. The first major one happened in 2008 and was called the New Xbox Experience (NXE). It was inspired by Microsoft's Windows Media Center and Zune design schemes. This update also introduced the ability to install games to mitigate load times. The console received its second major UI update in 2011, when it was modeled after Microsoft's Windows 8 Metro design language. This update added cloud storage for games, Bing voice search, and more.
While the 360 achieved great success for Microsoft, early models were plagued by what gamers would refer to as the Red Ring of Death, highlighted by the fact that a red LED ring would appear on the console to signal an overheating issue. It was such a pervasive problem that it ended up destroying systems. Users ended up coming up with ridiculous fixes that included baking the console's motherboard in ovens. This pushed Microsoft to spend over a billion dollars to extend the console's warranty by three years.
Competed Against: Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii
Notable Games: BioShock, Blue Dragon, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Crackdown, Dead or Alive 4, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto V, Halo 3, Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Kameo, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Lost Odyssey, Red Dead Redemption, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Viva Piñata
Xbox 360 Controller
The Xbox 360 controller offered a marked improvement over the original Duke controller. Slightly smaller than the Xbox's Controller S, it continued to use two offset analog sticks coupled with a D-pad, but dropped two of the original controller's face buttons (going from six down to four), but added two bumpers in their place. The middle guide button allowed you to turn on the console, which was an appreciated new feature. There were both wireless and wired versions of the controller, the latter of which became popular with PC gamers due to its USB connection.
The Xbox 360 Elite
On April 29, 2007, Microsoft released its high-end Xbox 360 Elite model for $479. It came in black and was equipped with a larger 120GB hard drive, built-in Wi-Fi, and an HDMI output.
The Xbox 360 Arcade
Microsoft released the Xbox 360 Arcade on October 23, 2007 at $280 to replace the Core models. Like the Core units before it, the Arcade SKU didn't have a hard drive, though it did include a 256MB memory card. Its biggest difference was that it added an HDMI port. It also changed the color of the optical drive from chrome to white.
The Xbox 360 S
On June 14, 2010, Microsoft released its first significantly redesigned Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 S launched at $300 and came with a relatively large 250GB hard drive. It was also referred to as the slim model with its smaller, lighter design and smaller power brick. It was also more angular and featured a glossy black finish.
The S model used a more power-efficient processor and motherboard that mitigated the original design's thermal issues that could cause the Red Ring of Death. It also ran more quietly as a result. The S replaced the physical power and eject buttons with touch-sensitive ones and offered 802.11n Wi-Fi support along with two additional USB ports. When set up vertically, it also moved the hard drive bay from the top of the chassis to the bottom.
Kinect
Microsoft released its Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360 on November 11, 2010, roughly five years after the launch of the console. In addition to supporting voice commands, the motion control device used a relatively advanced sensor that allowed users to play games with their bodies rather than with controllers.
It represented Microsoft's first major foray into motion controls and ended up being a financial hit. Despite releasing relatively late into the console's lifecycle, the Kinect became the fastest-selling consumer electronics device, and sold eight million units within 60 days. To date, Microsoft has sold over 24 million first-generation Kinects, which puts it on par with the sales of the original Xbox console.
Competed Against: Nintendo Wii Remote, PlayStation Move controllers
Notable Games: Dance Central, Dance Central 2, Dance Central 3, Kinect Adventures, Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, Kinect Star Wars, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
Xbox 360 E
Microsoft released its last 360 redesign in April 2013. The Xbox 360 E launched at $250 and included a 250GB hard drive. The console was actually slightly smaller and quieter than the S model before it and was geared at budget-conscious customers who were unwilling to spend $500 for the upcoming Xbox One. It was designed to look similar to the Xbox One with its mixture of black matte and gloss finish.
The E model also marked the return of physical power and eject buttons. The design did remove the console's S/PDIF and legacy AV connectors, however, and relegated users to an HDMI-only video connection. The 360 E version also offered four USB ports, which was one fewer than the S model before it.
Xbox One
Microsoft entered the eighth generation of consoles on November 22, 2013. The Xbox One launched at $500, with the company pitching it as the ultimate entertainment system and bundling every unit with a second-generation Kinect. The new Kinect uses a 1080p camera that offers a wider angle, improved tracking accuracy, and heart-rate monitoring. While Microsoft originally asserted that the Kinect was an integral part of the experience and made it a requirement to be plugged in at all times, the company eventually offered a cheaper $400 SKU on June 9, 2014 that omitted the sensor to be more competitive with Sony's $400 PS4 console. Users also voiced privacy concerns over the camera. Microsoft started selling the Kinect separately for $150.
The Xbox One moved back to the PC's x86 instruction set. The console uses AMD's custom Jaguar accelerated processing unit, which features two quad-core modules clocked at 1.75GHz. The system uses AMD's Durango integrated graphics solution based on the company's Radeon HD 7000 series GPUs. Durango is clocked at 853MHz and is capable of delivering 1.31 teraflops of performance. For memory, the Xbox One uses 8GB of shared DDR3 RAM clocked at 2133MHz, but it also offers 32MB of faster ESRAM embedded onto the APU. The console is generally seen as being slightly weaker than the competing PS4, which doesn't use any ESRAM but features 8GB of the fast GDDR5 memory. Some third-party ports run at a lower native resolution than on Sony's system.
The Xbox One removes the ability to swap out the hard drive but allows users to use external USB 3.0 drives to increase storage. You can also play media off of USB devices in addition to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. In terms of network connectivity, the Xbox One features support for Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n, and Wi-Fi Direct.
For its design, the Xbox One uses a two-tone chassis that blends matte black with a glossy finish and brought back capacitive touch buttons. While the console is relatively large, it runs cooler and quieter than Sony's competing PlayStation 4. Due to the placement of its air vents, though, it's relegated to a horizontal orientation, unlike the Xbox 360 before it.
Piggybacking on the success of the 360 as a multimedia device, Microsoft heavily pushed the console's multimedia functionality and added the ability to record and stream gameplay. The original operating system ran a stripped-down version of Windows 8 that was based on the OS' tile-based design language. The user interface initially received a lot of criticism for being unintuitive. It received many updates over the years, and in 2016, it added Cortana voice support.
Microsoft is keeping Xbox One sales numbers close its its chest, but industry estimates put it around 26 million units sold as of January 2017. This places it behind Sony's PS4, which has shipped over 60 million consoles to date.
Competing Against: Sony PlayStation 4, Sony PlayStation 4 Pro, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch
Notable Games: Battlefield 1, Dark Souls II, Destiny, Dishonored 2, Doom, Fallout 4, Forza Horizon 2, Forza Horizon 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Forza Motorsport 6, Gears of War 4, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 5: Guardians, Inside, Minecraft, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Sunset Overdrive, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Titanfall, Titanfall 2
Xbox One Controller
The layout for the Xbox One controller remains similar to the 360's equivalent before it. Microsoft made some adjustments to its ergonomics, added a grippy texture to its analog sticks, and improved the controller's haptic feedback. The Start and Back buttons were also replaced by Menu and View equivalents.
In 2015, a newer revision added a 3.5mm headphone jack to the bottom of controller.
Xbox Elite One Wireless Controller
Microsoft released its Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller on October 27, 2015. The premium peripheral retails for $150 and features interchangeable parts that include dome-style convex sticks and taller concave ones. There is also an option to swap out the D-pad for a satellite-looking solution that was tailor-made for fighting games. In addition, the controller features hair-trigger locks that allow you to minimize the travel distance of the left and right triggers. Underneath the controller, there are four removable paddles that allow you to remap any of the buttons. The black and silver controller is significantly heavier than the stock model, which Microsoft asserts is mostly due to the higher-quality steel components.
Xbox One S
Microsoft released its Xbox One S variant on August 2, 2016. The console redesign is roughly 40 percent smaller than the previous model and integrated the power supply unit into the chassis. It comes in a predominately matte white aesthetic coupled with black accents.
The One S once again brought the return of physical power and eject buttons and adds a 4K Blu-ray drive along with high-dynamic range (HDR) support. The console's GPU received a seven percent boost, going from 853MHz to 914MHz. The higher frequency was added to compensate for the extra processing overhead that HDR introduces. The Xbox One S could also upscale games to 4K. The console offers three hard drive sizes: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB that cost $299, $349, and $399, respectively.
While the Xbox One S made several improvements to the base model, it removes the Kinect port. Microsoft offered a free Kinect adapter for a limited time, but now they're sold separately for $40.
Xbox One S/Xbox Design Lab Controller
Microsoft debuted a slightly altered Xbox One controller with the release of its S console. The new variant supports Bluetooth and sports a new textured grip. There are also similar Xbox Design Lab controllers that allow you to greatly customize the colors of the peripheral.
Xbox One X
The Xbox One X is set to release on November 7 with a $500 MSRP. Microsoft is pitching the One X as a 4K-capable console that can deliver six teraflops of performance but still runs the same games and software as existing Xbox One systems.
In terms of specs, the One X still uses an 8-core AMD system-on-a-chip like its predecessor, but it has been heavily tweaked and boosted to 2.3GHz. It also now uses 12GB of shared GDDR5 RAM. For its GPU, it uses a Radeon solution that's equipped with 40 compute units based on AMD's Polaris micro-architecture and is clocked at 1172MHz.
The console is backwards compatible with the Xbox One, down to its peripherals. In terms of design, the Xbox One X is the company's smallest console. Aesthetically, it looks a lot like a black Xbox One S.
Though the console is geared towards 4K enthusiasts with its higher-end specs coupled with its UHD HDR-capable Blu-ray player, Microsoft asserts that the Xbox One X will also be able to bolster gaming for those who don't own ultra high-definition displays. The company says the system will be able to add anisotropic filtering, support FreeSync panels, mitigate load times, and enable supersampling to make 1080p TV gameplay look sharper than standard HD output.
Nintendo has released a new update for its Switch-exclusive fighting game, Arms. The patch is the first big one since launch, and it introduces a couple of neat new features.
Firstly, the game now has a new way of playing locally: Arena Mode. This is similar to online play's Party Mode, but it includes the ability to spectate your friends' matches while playing in the same room. Up to four friends can be in the same lobby, with two players fighting each other while the other pair watches on.
The update also introduces a LAN Mode. According to Nintendo Life, this offers the same options as wireless local multiplayer, but with the more stable speeds ethernet connections provide. Nintendo says you can connect up to eight Switches (with up to two players on each device) using this method.
The remainder of the update is made up of bug fixes, meanwhile, including one for a text issue in Grand Prix story and one that solves a Ribbon Gil stage hitbox problem.
The Inhumans is one of several new Marvel TV shows in the works, and it is set to hit screens in September. A new poster featuring the show's main characters has been released--check it out below:
The first two episodes will get a worldwide release in IMAX theaters on September 1. The series premieres on ABC on September 29, with the first two parts airing back-to-back.
The show is being overseen by Scott Buck, the showrunner for Netflix'sIron Fist. Hell on Wheels star Anson Mount stars as hypersonic-voiced Black Bolt, with Iwan Rheon as Maximus, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, and Ken Leung as Karnak.
The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in a 1965 issue of Fantastic Four. Their first self-titled comic line ran from 1975 to 1977, and they have subsequently appeared in a variety of limited and ongoing series over the past four decades.
War for the Planet of the Apes' biggest conflict isn't the one you expect from the title. Sure, it's full of large-scale battles between human armies and apes, and there's plenty of action and intense gunfights. But the real war in the latest Planet of the Apes film is over what kind of movie it wants to be.
Despite starting and ending as a standard "war" film, complete with slow-motion explosion montages, characters scrambling to safety through dirt trenches, and people hunkering behind cover as bullets fly around them, War for the Planet of the Apes spends most of its runtime as an old-fashioned Western. And despite the surprising shift in tone when Caesar (played by Andy Serkis and an army of CGI engineers) mounts up on horseback away from the large-scale combat and into a completely different genre, it actually works.
Unlike the previous Apes films where humans and apes alternated in the spotlight, Caesar drives the entire narrative this time around. His brooding, Clint Eastwood demeanor and the film's purposeful pacing generate a slow and steady burn that's only broken by scattered gunfire and breakneck horse chases. And even with a preponderance of ape-focused exposition, it's still effective because the movie makes you believe that the talking and acting apes you see on screen are real-life creatures. Whether they're conversing in sign language or Caesar's rough speech, War for the Planet of the Apes quickly erases the ineffective opening war and draws you into a world of convincing, empathetic characters on a cowboy-like tale of bloody vengeance.
But War of the Planet of the Apes also does this so well because it is, once again, a technical masterpiece; the line between practical effects and CGI isn't just blurred, it's erased. When the camera focuses on Caesar's eyes as he talks about his loss or tries to understand his world, you stop looking for the little tells, the surefire giveaways that these are just special effects. Instead, you feel like you're looking directly into the eyes of a highly intelligent, talking chimpanzee.
The deliberate pace and careful focus on individual apes as characters works to spectacular effect as a Western, but the magic is lost somewhat when the film shifts once again about halfway in, this time becoming a heist/breakout film and paying homage to The Great Escape. The focus shifts more to the escapades of the apes, the soundtrack changes, and it creates a jarring change just as the film seems to be settling into its prairie-bound groove.
But while the heist section of the film is a distracting-but-not-terrible aside, the inevitable "war movie" also makes its return near the end. In this final shift, War for the Planet for the Apes tries to create parallels to Apocalypse Now--with its sweeping camera work, its antagonist derided as a crazy military leader, and even the too-on-the-nose "Ape Apocalypse Now!" message scrawled in graffiti on a wall--but those comparisons to a classic like Apocalypse just highlight War for the Planet of the Ape's relative inability to maintain its comparable momentum and focus.
In every way that War for the Planet of the Apes is successful as a Western, it fails to convey the scope of its war and the toll it takes on its characters. The stakes are so subdued that they never feel any greater than the climatic battle that closed the previous film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the entire war feels less immediate and important than Caesar's own personal battle. Despite the title, the fighting ends up feeling more like a single battle, and the final conflict is resolved in an ridiculous deus ex machina moment. Taken altogether, it makes the "war" aspects feel tacked on to a completely different--and superior--movie.
So the real conflict is between what type of film War for the Planet of the Apes wants to be and what it is. Although it lacks any reason to call the movie's fight a war at all, it's still an interesting continuation of the Planet of the Apes saga. The subtle and overt allusions to the original films, both in characters and setting, create a palpable sense of dread and expectation for anyone familiar with Charlton Heston's turn in the first Planet of the Apes. And in both the original franchise and this reboot, the human characters continue to fade into the background, both literally and figuratively. But War for the Planet Apes' CGI cast is so good, that real-life humans might not be necessary for the next movie.
Now, Sega has defended the service's launch, at the same time as reassuring fans that it is working on improving the quality of both the lineup and each game's port.
"We've got lots of things planned as we go through, and we're going to keep on working on that quality," Sega Networks' chief marketing officer, Mike Evans, told Eurogamer. "For the vast majority of our fans it's solid, but the specialist guys who are looking for the absolute epitome of quality, we're going to keep improving for those guys."
"The launch itself has been really positive--if you look at the vast majority of feedback it's been strong, if you look at ratings on the App Store from consumers there's definitely some very good sentiment as well. Is there room for improvement like anything? Yeah there is."
Evans went on to say that Sega has "some really good updates coming out soon which will address some of the challenges of the d-pad, some of the [graphics] shading as well that we're looking at how to improve."
Currently, Sega Forever is only available on Android and iOS, but Evans hinted that an expansion to other platforms may come further down the line. He stated that developing these re-releases in the Unity game engine "opens up other commercial opportunities for us with Apple TVs, desktops and the Switch as well."
Lastly, regarding criticism of the games lineup at launch, Evans said the company started with Genesis games as it's the "most successful platform" and "a good place to introduce the mainstream audience," but that more platform favorites would be coming soon. "I'm actively looking at Segagaga as a title which will be a great thing, there are other titles I'd love to see, like Panzer Dragoon," he said. "They're the things that take a bit more time, but what we've got to do is get the quality right as well, and that's important."
Post and mid-credit scenes are an important part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, often hinting at characters and plots to come in the interconnected world. It has now been reported that the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming will have two post-credit scenes.
The news comes via Polygon, based on reports from early screenings of the movie, which hits theaters next month. It is unknown what the scenes contain, and as the site points, the matter is complicated by the fact that Homecoming is a co-production between Marvel and Sony.
Although the film is part of the MCU, Sony owns the movie rights to Spider-Man and associated characters. Sony are already planning their own series of Spidey spinoffs, starting with Venom in 2018. So it is unknown if the post-credit Homecoming scenes tease these films, or if they will relate to upcoming films within the MCU. Given that Spider-Man will appear in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, it's possible one might link to that epic Marvel team-up.
Spider-Man: Homecoming stars Tom Holland, Robery Downey Jr, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, and Donald Glover. Earlier this month, Holland confirmed that it would be the first part of a trilogy. "There is still a lot of room for Peter Parker and Spider-Man, especially, to grow in the next two movies," he said. "He's definitely not the finished article by the end of Homecoming and I really look forward to exploring the different ways he can grow up. It's going to be an exciting couple of movies."
Kallie and Miguel brave a night in a Korean high school in this livestream. This first person survival horror game is set in a school built on cursed land.
Join Mike and Jake as they check out Wolfenstein The New Order and chat about their hopes for Wolfenstein 2 and more.
Light Fall is a high-speed platformer that lets the player create a platform in order to traverse the gorgeous worlds. Jake sits down with David Dion-Paquet to discuss the game.
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