Six months ago, developers Guard Crush Games (Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap) and Lizardcube (Streets of Fury) announced the latest instalment in Sega's classic arcade beat-em-up series, Streets of Rage 4. Information about the title has been scarce since the reveal trailer, however.Though no release date has been confirmed as of yet, the developers have released a new trailer showing off some intense, visually stunning gameplay.
The trailer, which you can watch below, features some very 80s style drums and synth patterns, accompanied by hand-drawn visuals as Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding walk up and down city streets beating up whoever's in their way. The game looks smooth and distinct, with richly saturated colors and smooth animations. Throughout the trailer, both Axel and Blaze juggle opponents in the air and to each other like tennis players, showcasing just how cooperative SOR4 will be. It's short, lasting only 40-seconds long, but it's a tantalizing look at the game.
Our own Alessandro Fillari came away impressed during his hands-on time with the game back at PAX West 2018. In his write-up, he said that "the game reflects its predecessors' history and legacy." He went on to state that the gameplay feels familiar, with the developers citing Streets of Rage II and Streets of Rage 3 as being starting points.
Fillari also explained the new modified super move system, which, like SOR2, will "deplete some of your health." However, to keep the game in line with its contemporaries, SOR4 will allow you to recover the depleted health with regular attacks, something he likens to Bloodborne's health regen system.
Along with gameplay and mechanics, Fillari also touched on the new visual art style, calling it "a much more dynamic look compared to its predecessor's vivid, yet still static cityscape." Instead of the 2D sprite work found in the original titles, SOR4 features hand-drawn visuals similar to Lizardcube's 2017 title, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap--a remake of the 1989 game Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. In addition to gameplay changes and a revamp in art aesthetics, SOR4 will have "its own unique score and effects to help make it stand out from the original game." Unfortunately, the developers are hush-hush about the rest of the game, including whether the series' original composer, Yuzo Koshiro, will return to score SOR4.
Street of Rage 4 is currently in development. A definitive release date is unknown and there's no word on what platforms it'll appear on.
Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has announced Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 is an Xbox One backwards compatibility title. You can now play the 2007 Xbox 360 game on Xbox One, whether you own the physical or digital version of the game.
You don't have to buy the game if you subscribe to Xbox Live Gold either. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 has been announced as one of the four titles offered through Games With Gold in April 2019. So with Xbox Live Gold, you'll be able to download Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 for free April 16 - 30.
Like its predecessor, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 puts an emphasis on stealth and tactical decision making in firefights. The game's story takes place over a 72-hour period, focusing on a series of conflicts that occur along the US and Mexico border. Like the rest of the Ghost Recon franchise, you play as a part of an elite special forces US group that responds to international threats around the globe, operating in complete secrecy with a mixture of traditional weapons and advanced, futuristic tech.
In our Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 review, we gave the game a 8.7/10, writing, "There's such a wealth of content in the multiplayer suite that it alone makes GRAW2 an easy purchase for multiplayer fans. If the original game is any indication, there's going to be a large following for GRAW2 for a long time, which makes this a safe investment. The flip side to this is that if you don't have Xbox Live, then GRAW2 is an iffier proposition. The single-player game is fun, but its brevity is certainly an issue. Still, if you're a fan of modern combat, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 makes a compelling case for a game that you have to play."
While the upcoming X-men movie Dark Phoenix has had its release date moved back a couple of times, we do at least know that it will be hitting theaters this summer. The same can't be said for The New Mutants, the horror-themed X-Men spin-off that was shot two years ago and has been subjected to various delays ever since. Now star Maisie Williams has expressed her frustration with the situation.
In an interview with Rolling Stone to promote the upcoming final season of Game of Thrones, Williams was asked about the status of The New Mutants. "Who knows when the f*** that's gonna come out," she said. "Hopefully this interview will make everyone hurry up a little bit."
Williams explained that reshoots planned to "make it scarier" hadn't taken place yet, even though the movie currently has an August 2 release date. In addition, she stated that she recently saw co-star Charlie Heaton and asked him, "What the f*** is going on with this movie?" Unfortunately, Heaton didn't know either.
This isn't the first time one of the stars of The New Mutants has expressed their feelings about the delays to the film. Last year, Anna Taylor-Joy described the situation as "frustrating." The movie is directed by Josh Boone, who previously stated that it will be a "rubber-reality supernatural horror movie."
The New Mutants was originally set for release in April 2018. It was subsequently moved to February 2019, before shifting again to August. Although that date has not changed, it seems highly unlikely the movie will be released then--there have been no trailers since the first one back in October 2017, and the cast clearly have no idea when we are likely to see it.
While there were reports of potential reshoots before Disney's recent purchase of Fox's entertainment assets, the fact the movie is now under the Disney banner complicates matters. It is thought that Fox's Marvel properties--namely X-Men and the Fantastic Four--will be brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The New Mutants could be released straight to the upcoming streaming service Disney+, but the studio has not commented on this.
Jordan Peele hit a nerve in his "written and directed by" debut, Get Out. It was both critically and commercially successful; it netted Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. And Peele's newest film, Us, continues his record of success. It's a provoking, sprawling work, filled with callbacks and clever little touches. Comedy was Peele's original genre of choice, and the same instincts that create his comedy are applicable to his horror.
Best of all, Us wraps with a game-changing plot twist that Peele telegraphs, in ways both explicit and subtle, throughout the film's running time. You may have seen it coming, but in some ways that makes it a good twist--it's easy to pull the rug out from the audience, but don't confuse mere surprise with actual narrative subversion. It takes crafting and forethought to misdirect the audience along the wrong path for an entire movie, reveal the correct path, and make it equally viable.
The clues were there all along; you just weren't looking for them. Here is every hint and little detail we've found in Jordan Peele's Us, that gave the entire film its unity and sense of purpose. And if you have questions about the meanings behind the film, check out our explainer gallery and our analysis of the ending.
1. So What's The Twist?
So let's start from the end, with that doozy of a twist. At the beginning of the movie, the audience learns that when she was a little girl, Adelaide went into a house of mirrors at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Inside, she met her Tethered doppelganger--an experience that apparently left her traumatized and unable to speak.
What we learn at the end of the film is that Adelaide actually switched places with her doppelganger that evening in 1986. The doppelganger, named Red, choked Adelaide until she was unconscious, dragged her down to the underground, and handcuffed her to a bed. She then switched clothes and took her place above ground.
That means that for the entire film, the woman we thought was Adelaide was actually Red, and vice versa. It complicates our sympathies of both women, and deepens the film's theme of "us versus them." It turns out there was nothing inherently inferior about the Tethered. The proof is that once someone from below ground was given chances, artistic outlets, and language to express herself, she blended in perfectly on the surface. The only thing that separates those who have a lot from those who have little is opportunity.
Bearing that twist in mind, what follows are several moments from the movie that are now loaded with double meaning.
2. A Grieving Mother
When Adelaide's mother is talking to the therapist in the flashback and sobs, "I just want my little girl back," she has no idea how literal her words are--that her daughter was literally taken.
3. A Telling Conversation
We're led to believe that both Adelaide and Red have repressed the memories of their switch. But on some level, Adelaide (the adult Red) is aware of the awful act she's committed. She tells Gabe in a bedroom conversation about her fears that her double will track her down. This might be repressed guilt, of having to answer for what she did to Red years ago.
Adelaide says during the same conversation with Gabe, "I don't feel like myself here." Of course she doesn't.
4. Twisted Fairytale
When Red tells the "Once upon a time..." story to Adelaide's family, she talks about how when people above ground ate delicious Thanksgiving food, the people below ground ate raw rabbit flesh. How would someone who lived underground her whole life even know what delicious food was? She remembers it from her childhood, before she was switched. She also phrases the story as a fairy tale because kids' stories are her most familiar cultural reference, since the last time she was aboveground was as a young child.
5. This Is Thriller
The Michael Jackson reference on the Thriller shirt that Adelaide is wearing is no coincidence. Lots of the imagery reinforces the connection to the artist. The Tethered are all dressed in red (like Jackson was in the Thriller video) and are wearing a single glove. Peele has discussed the duality of Jackson in interviews, of how a man of great generosity and philanthropy could also be accused of monstrous things.
But the Thriller music video is also foreshadowing. Remember how at the end of the video, Jackson looked at the camera and had cat eyes? It turned out that he was a monster the whole time. In a similar way, Adelaide has blended in with the above ground people. One would have to look more closely to see that something isn't right.
6. A Broken Voice
Red speaks with a hoarse rasp of a voice. But even so, she is the only one of the Tethered who can speak; everyone else seems to communicate in grunts, moans, and animal noises. This was a clue that she was special; unlike the others, she had experienced and learned English above ground, and so she retained this ability.
So why is her voice damaged? Probably because her larynx was crushed by her double when she choked her into unconsciousness. Conversely, this is the reason why Adelaide does not speak after the mirrors incident. Her parents think it's because she's traumatized. But it's actually because she's one of the Tethered, and simply doesn't know how to speak.
7. Hand in Hand
When she's in the waiting room of the psychiatrist's office, little Adelaide is playing in the sandbox, and she starts arranging the animals in a row side-by-side, in an imitation of Hands Across America.
8. Odd Couples
When adult Adelaide is relaxing on the couch near the beginning of the movie, she sees a smaller spider crawl out from underneath a bigger rubber spider, which mirrors the Tethered overcoming and escaping the underground.
Later, a red frisbee lands on a white blanket at the beach, and completely lines up with a blue dot on the blanket. This overlap reinforces the duality theme, and it also refers to the entire film's premise of the red-clad Tethered rising up to kill and overlap their twins.
9. Odd Gestures
Gene's double, Abraham, is fascinated by Gabe's glasses, because every time Gabe adjusted his glasses or put them on, Abraham felt compelled to do the same gesture. This is the first time he's seen the purpose for this movement.
Sometimes, the mirrored movement is twisted into something violent. The doppelganger of Kitty cuts her own face with a knife. This is a reference to the above ground Kitty's plastic surgery.
10. Mimicry Mimicry
Similarly, Jason's double, Pluto, is fascinated by Jason's lighter, because every time that Jason tried to do a magic trick with it, Pluto lit a match; it may be how he burned off the bottom portion of his face. Finally, he can see the reason for his misery.
Jason realizes that his doppelganger, Pluto, feels a compulsion to imitate him. He learns this when they're in the closet together, copying the magic trick and pulling off their masks. Jason later uses this knowledge to his advantage, and tricks Pluto into walking into the fire, killing him.
11. The First Link In The Chain
When Adelaide and her family first arrive in Santa Cruz, we see a dead homeless man being loaded into an ambulance. We saw him previously during the prologue flashback; he was holding the same Jeremiah 11:11 sign and looked much younger.
Later in the movie, Jason sees a homeless man standing in the middle of the beach, with his hands outstretched. We know now, with the benefit of hindsight, that this is the Tethered who replaced the original homeless man after killing him. He's also one of the first Tethered individuals to successfully kill his double; he's standing strangely, because he's taking his place as one link in the Hands Across America demonstration. By the end of the movie, there are many, many more who have joined him.
12. Sinister Shyness
When Adelaide tells Kitty on the beach that she doesn't feel comfortable talking, we initially think it's shyness. It's actually because she had to learn it; she had spent the first part of her life in the underground, where she didn't know any English. It's not a surprise that she still finds social interactions a little awkward or confusing.
13. An Innate Sense of Direction
Adelaide manages to navigate her way into the underground, sight unseen. The only way she could have moved with such deliberateness is if she had already been there--which she had, as a child.
14. A Regression of Behavior
Adelaide enters a near feral state toward the end of the film when she's trying to defeat Red in the hallway. She makes growling noises after killing Red that sound eerily similar to those of the Tethered. Her staggering (resulting from injury) is reminiscent of the way that the Tethered walked underground before the real Adelaide woke them up.
Jason is suspicious throughout the movie. He sees Adelaide's "true self" when she kills one of the twins, and also when she kills Red; he's likely able to see some of their fight through the holes the locker. After both incidences, he looks terrified of his mother rather than reassured.
15. A Thematic Color Change
Adelaide's white shirt becomes more and more stained with blood during the movie, until it's finally "red," like the jumpsuits of the Tethered.
16. Whistle a Happy Tune
The real Adelaide, unlike her doppelganger, can whistle "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" well. She does it as a young girl in the mirror funhouse. And she does it again right before her death, revealing that it's the same person.
17. Something Off About Jason
There are several theories that Jason might be a Tethered himself. Fans speculate that Pluto and Jason switched in the beach house closet the previous year, when Jason was trapped inside it the prior year.
There's a lot of circumstantial evidence that supports this. For example, Jason is digging a tunnel at the beach instead of building a sand castle. He has a fascination with the underground and with dark places; the twin neighbors call him "weird" for it.
18. A Selective Memory
Jason also doesn't always recall things that he should. He doesn't remember how to do his magic trick from last year. And when Gabe asks Jason to get the baseball bat to defend against the Tethered, Jason doesn't know where it is.
19. Grieving for Grandma
We also learn that Jason and Zora's grandmother died, which Gabe says has affected Jason's state of mind. This feels like a callback to Adelaide's prior trauma. Maybe Gabe is making a convenient rationalization, and maybe the real reason why Jason seems different is that he is actually Pluto?
20. Another Explanation
If you don't buy that theory, there's another reason why Jason might be scared of his "mother" at the end: The real Adelaide, AKA Red, might have simply told him the truth about the switch. They were alone together down there for a while, after all.
21. Back to the Shadows
After Adelaide remembers her past, she locks eyes with Jason. He gives her a knowing look, and then puts on his mask.
You could interpret this as a non-verbal signal to Adelaide that, "Yes, I'll keep your secret." Alternately, if Jason is actually one of the Tethered, he may have put on the mask as an acknowledgement of his true nature, and to tell Adelaide that he too was hiding the truth about himself.
Despite the gaming industry's growth, we've seen numerous companies lay off employees of late, including significant ones at Activision Blizzard. Electronic Arts is the next company to confirm layoffs of its own, announcing today that about 350 people are losing their jobs.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson delivered the news via the company's official website. "Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead," Wilson said. Of the company's roughly 9,000 employees, 350 people across the company's marketing, publishing, and operations teams will lose their jobs. This also includes operations in Japan and Russia, where the company is "ramping down our current presence [to] focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets."
You can read his full statement below:
"Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead. As we look across a changing world around us, it's clear that we must change with it. We're making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs of our players. As part of this, we have made changes to our marketing and publishing organization, our operations teams, and we are ramping down our current presence in Japan and Russia as we focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets. In addition to organizational changes, we are deeply focused on increasing quality in our games and services. Great games will continue to be at the core of everything we do, and we are thinking differently about how to amaze and inspire our players.
"This is a difficult day. The changes we're making today will impact about 350 roles in our 9,000-person company. These are important but very hard decisions, and we do not take them lightly. We are friends and colleagues at EA, we appreciate and value everyone's contributions, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we are looking after our people to help them through this period to find their next opportunity. This is our top priority."
With a month before Avengers: Endgame--the final chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga--arrives in theaters, a series of new character posters for the film have been released. The images feature a plethora of characters, both living and dead, along with the tagline, "Avenge the fallen."
The posters were shared on the social media pages associated with the cast and various MCU movies, with the simple message, "1 month." And just to make things simple, in case you're not caught up on the MCU, those that died in Infinity War are shown in black and white, while images of the living are in color. While we knew whether just about all of the characters featured on the poster survives that finger snap from Thanos (Josh Brolin), the posters do confirm T'Challa's sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) was among those that turned to dust.
While these posters clearly don't give away how Avengers: Endgame will conclude, it's easy to assume we'll see the characters featured in the posters in some fashion during the film. What makes that all the more exciting is the poster for a character we didn't even know plays a role in Endgame. Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), who was previously seen in Thor: Ragnarok, gets her own poster. While she wasn't seen during Thanos' attack on the Asgardian ship at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, her fate was never revealed. If this poster is to be believed, though, it looks like fans haven't seen the last of her.
Rockstar has rolled out another new batch of content for Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online. Ahead of the major update that's coming later this spring, the developer has added an assortment of new clothing options to the game, along with a new competitive mode: Target Races.
Rockstar describes Target Races as "a fast-paced mix of marksmanship, strategy, and horse-riding skills." Players begin each race equipped with a bow and arrow, with the object being to shoot targets as you dash through the track. Along the way, you'll also be able to pick up guns with limited ammo and other power-ups, which you can use to shoot the targets or other players.
In addition to standard Target Races, PS4 players now have early access to Open Target Races. This variation has you racing about an open environment shooting targets. These can be picked off in any order, and once you've hit all of them, you'll race against the other players in a mad dash to the finish. Thanks to Rockstar's timed exclusivity agreement with Sony, Open Target Races are only available on PS4 right now, but they'll come to the Xbox One version next month.
On top of the new modes, Rockstar is giving players 20% more XP in all activities this week, while all horse care items are 25% off. The developer has also added a new selection of clothes to purchase. The full list includes:
Morning Tail Coat
Strickland Boots
Bowyer Boots (Female only)
Furred Gloves
Rockstar has more new content in the pipeline for Red Dead Online this year, including two more Showdown modes called Up in Smoke and Plunder. On top of that, the developer will add a hostility system to help combat griefing this spring, as well as new Land of Opportunities missions, more Free Roam missions, dynamic events such as ambushes and rescues, and more
If you haven't peeked at the Xbox Store this week, you absolutely should. Not only are some of the best games from last week's sale still available, but more great deals were also added today. Before we get into those, be sure to check out the Critically Acclaimed Sale, which has discounts on some of the best games available on Xbox One, including Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Celeste, Dead Cells, and more. Only one day is left for these incredible deals, so grab whatever you want ASAP.
In case you haven't heard, this week marks the 25th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls--the first game in the series, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, released back in 1994. To celebrate, Bethesda is offering huge deals on many Elder Scrolls titles this week, including The Elder Scrolls Online ($10), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Special Edition ($24), and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ($7.50). The Elder Scrolls Online deal is available through April 8; the other deals will only be around through April 1. As a heads-up, you can also download The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for free on PC all this week, with that offer ending Sunday, March 31.
An iconic DC superhero is getting some love in the Xbox store this week: Batman's Arkham series and Lego games are marked down up to 60% right now. Grab Batman: Arkham Knight for $10, Batman: Return to Arkham for $10, and the Batman: Arkham Knight season pass for (you guessed it) $10. If you're a fan of the Lego games, you can also get Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham for $10 and its Deluxe edition for $17.50. Plus, the Lego DC Super-Villains season pass is only $9. The Lego games make for some entertaining couch co-op if you enjoy playing locally with a friend or partner.
Another notable deal: Battlefield V is 50% off for a limited time to celebrate the release of its free battle royale mode, Firestorm. You can grab the base game for just $30 for the next two days. Its Deluxe edition is also marked down to $40. Other great deals this week include Titanfall 2 ($5) and Injustice 2 ($28), both of which will be available through April 1.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is huge, consisting of a tremendous number of characters which have been slowly introduced throughout the years. And because of this, in the wake of the Thanos Snap in Avengers: Infinity War, fans didn't know if many of these characters were dusted off-screen because they didn't appear in the movie. Many have wondered if Asgardian Valkyrie--who first appeared in Thor: Ragnarok--had survived Thanos' plan and would appear in Avengers: Endgame. The same question has lingered about Black Panther's Shuri.
Thanks to some new posters for the upcoming movie, we've learned that Valkyrie is alive, but Shuri is not. More than two dozen posters were released, and the black and white posters indicated who is dead, while the ones in color were for the living. Valkyrie's poster, which you can see below, is in full, glorious color, while Shuri's is not.
Aside from the color palette, every poster is the same. It features a close-up of a character, the April 26 release date of the movie, and the phrase, "Avenge the fallen" printed at the top of it.
The last time fans saw Valkyrie was in Thor: Ragnarok. After defeating Hela with Thor and company, she boarded the ship with the rest of the surviving Asgardians to find a new home. However, in Infinity War, the movie opened up with Thanos and the Black Order boarding that same ship in space and the Mad Titan had already killed half the people on board. Valkyrie was aboard that ship, but there was no indication to whether she lived or died.
Now, it's apparent she will return for Avengers: Endgame to avenge the fallen, and maybe we'll get to see her team up again with Bruce Banner/Hulk and Thor.
Shuri, on the other hand, was listed as "missing" during a trailer for Endgame. It was unclear at the time if she had fallen victim to the Snap or was simply unaccounted for after Infinity War, but it appears now that she, too, was killed by Thanos.
Xbox's indies-focused event and announced three more ID@Xbox games that will come to Game Pass on release day, as well as the lineup of indies that will be available to play at PAX East.
Killer Queen Black, Outer Wilds, and Blazing Chrome will all hit Xbox's all-you-can-eat subscription service on release day. Killer Queen Black is a new arcade multiplayer entry for up to eight players. Outer Wilds from Annapurina Interactive and Mobius is an open-world exploration game that repeats a limited-time challenge as you learn new secrets about the world to help with subsequent playthroughs. Blazing Chrome is an arcade run-and-gun action game. Killer Queen and Outer Wilds are both targeting 2019 launches, while a date wasn't given for Blazing Chrome.
Microsoft also announced the slate of ID@Xbox games playable at PAX East, which begins March 28 in Boston, MA. You can stop by the Xbox booth to try Void Bastards, Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Supermarket Shriek, The Good Life, and Afterparty. Like the other games announced today, each of these will launch on Game Pass on their respective release days. You'll also be able to collect pins that represent the various indie games.
Xbox Game Pass offers an all-you-can-play model with more than 100 Xbox One and backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games as long as you pay the $10 per month subscription fee. The Xbox Game Pass lineup already includes a selection of indie games with more being added regularly. This month's additions include What Remains of Edith Finch and Operencia among others, and Minecraft will be coming next month.
SNK's once-prolific output in the '90s has slowed in recent years, but thanks to Neo Geo ports arriving weekly on Switch and other platforms, some of the company's most popular arcade series are once again vying for players' attention. Samurai Shodown is one of those. The weapons-based 2D fighting series thrived for close to 15 years, but it has largely remained dormant since 2008's Samurai Shodown Sen. While it's great to revisit the series' past on modern consoles, it's also exciting to know that a brand-new Samurai Shodown fighting game is on the way--and it feels even better to report that my time with the game has only increased my anticipation for its upcoming June release.
In order to get an inside look at the new systems and to discuss the game's overall direction, I recently played a few rounds during a meeting with three Samurai Shodown developers: producer Yasuyuki Oda, game director Nobuyuki Kuroki, and game designer Josh Weatherford. Oda and Kuroki have experience working at SNK during its heyday in the '90s, and though they both worked on 2016's King of Fighters XIV, each had spent years away from the publisher working with other companies. While Kuroki helped ship a number of Sonic the Hedgehog games, Oda worked on Street Fighter IV at Dimps, the studio that co-developed the title with Capcom--which may help explain the similar inky rendering effect seen in the new Samurai Shodown. The team at SNK, we're told, is roughly a 50-50 split of veteran SNK developers and fresh talent from across the industry.
Weatherford, Oda, and Kuroki are all very good players, as you'd expect, and in their capable hands the new Samurai Shodown looked very impressive. Familiar faces like Nakoruru and Galford clashed with great speed and ferocity, with spurts of blood and blots of ink accenting the action. As with the ink, characters were vaguely reminiscent of Street Fighter IV's expressive and slightly exaggerated designs, yet it all feels distinctly Samurai Shodown, where beauty and brutality clash with ease. It's a testament to the strong character designs that have evolved with the series over the years, and proof that lessons were learned after King of Fighter XIV's poorly received graphics had to be overhauled post launch.
"I've led the charge on the art style," said Kuroki, "and I was really worried prior to the announcement and reveal of the game what the reaction would be to the visuals. I went really hard on the Japanese style with everything, from the UI, to the colors, and the textures. It's not what the Western image of 'Japanese' would be, it's a very original style, no corners cut or anything, and I wasn't sure if that would be popular in the West. Still, so far, everyone has been positive, so I'm happy to see that."
We now know that the roster will feature a total of sixteen characters, including 13 returning faces and three new fighters. The new characters remain a mystery, but we can now confirm that the 13 veterans are: Charlotte, Earthquake, Galford, Genjuro, Hanzo, Haohmaru, Jubei, Kyoshiro, Nakoruru, Shiki, Tam Tam, Ukyo, and Yoshitora. For Oda, seeing these familiar characters shine in a new light is a relief. "If you think about how the old 2D art was made," he posited, "it was very stylized, to the point where if you viewed the same character from the front, their hair would be so ridiculous and it would make no sense. I've loved the reaction so far, with everyone saying it looks like the old games, but in 3D; not like a reimagining."
If you've played Samurai Shodown in the past with any amount of regularity, you should have no problems picking up where you left off with the returning fighters. The rage gauge system is back, where each fighter has a meter that fills as they take damage, activating powerful buffs and attacks when it maxes out--including the disarming weapon-flipping technique. And once per match, you can activate a rage explosion with a simple button combo that destroys your rage gauge but gives you the chance to use a Lightning Blade attack, a move powerful enough to dramatically turn the tide of a contested battle.
Having left the series after Samurai Shodown V in 2003, it felt great to take control of these characters again. The speed, the hard-hitting fights, and the attitude is there. The visuals truly pop, giving me a newfound appreciation for a series that had until last year felt all but forgotten. I've only played a handful of fights so it's too early to say whether or not Samurai Shodown will have what it takes to excite casual and competitive fighting game players alike, but it will be tested soon enough.
"People always ask why we brought the series back," said Weatherford, "and as Kuroki always says, it's not just that the community's request via polls was very high, but it's also, even among other fighting games, it has a very different style and a different pace. We felt, with the current trend towards esports, that it could stand out on its own very easily."
The team at SNK won't have to wait long to see how its revival shakes out with fans and pros alike. The new Samurai Shodown is currently scheduled to release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June (Switch and PC at a later date), and shortly after, it will share the spotlight as one of the nine main games at EVO 2019 in August. That will be a big test, for sure, but having had a taste of what's possible during my demo, I already know it will be one of my most anticipated tournaments when the annual fighting game event kicks off in a few months' time.
April's Xbox Live Games with Gold have been revealed, and there are some great games going free for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners in the next few weeks. Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) is perhaps the most exciting game of the month, but there's plenty more besides that.
Xbox One owners can look forward to playing the 2016 action-RPG The Technomancer, which is free throughout April. Then, from April 16 through May 15, Outcast: Second Contact will also be free on Xbox One.
On Xbox 360, the free games will be Star Wars: Battlefront II--the 2005 game that first launched on the original Xbox--and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. The former is free from April 1 - 15, while the latter is available for no added cost from April 16 - 30. Both titles are backwards compatible, meaning you can play them on your Xbox One.
EA has announced a deal with Velan Studios, the new startup from Vicarious Visions founders Guha and Karthik Bala. The EA Partners label will publish Velan's first original franchise, which will appear on PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
The announcement didn't detail Velan's first project but did drop one intriguing clue. It mentions a new kind of "team-based action," which suggests it will be a multiplayer title.
Velan has announced plans to add 40 new jobs to prepare for creating the new IP, which is double its current team size. The studio has raised $7 million in capital since being founded in 2016. While at Vicarious Visions, the Bala brothers oversaw the development of series like Guitar Hero and Skylanders. Velan's talent pool includes veterans from games including Super Mario Maker, Uncharted, and Metroid Prime.
"We started Velan Studios to make community-centered play experiences that are daring and distinctive from what's being played today," said Guha Bala in the announcement. "We can't wait to share the details of our first original game in the future."
The anime streaming service Crunchyroll has announced it will be raising its rate on new premium subscriptions starting on May 1. Those who are already premium subscribers are getting a temporary reprieve from the price hike, remaining at their current rate for a few more months.
The prior Crunchyroll Premium subscription was set at $7 USD, and beginning on May 1 that will go up to $8. Premium members were notified of the rate change, along with word that their current rate will continue through August 1, 2019. New subscribers will begin at the new rate.
This follows a series of rate changes for streaming services. Netflix recently raised its prices by $1-2 for all tiers, and then shortly after, Hulu dropped the price for its most popular plan, which is the one with ad support. Crunchyroll is a more specialty service than both of these, though, focusing squarely on anime series and movies.
Each of the streaming services is preparing for more competition in the near future though. Disney is expected to launch its Disney+ streaming service this year, offering selections from its catalog of movies and shows along with new series set in the Marvel and Star Wars universes. Meanwhile Apple has recently announced its own premium subscription, Apple TV Plus, with its own slate of originals lined up. Pricing for those upcoming services has not been announced.
Microsoft has been courting indies for years through its ID@Xbox program, but now the company is giving independent games their very own showcase. The newly titled ID@Xbox Game Pass stream will premiere on March 26 and showcase a variety of indies coming to Xbox One.
Though a full line-up hasn't been announced, Microsoft did mention a few by name including Afterparty, Void Bastards, and Supermarket Shriek. Plus, given the name, it seems likely this will emphasize the indies that are included as part of the company's Game Pass subscription service. That service offers all-you-can-eat from a curated selection of games for $10 per month.
This show will follow a spate of publisher showcases, including the spring Nindies showcase that featured a collaboration with Microsoft to bring Cuphead to the Nintendo Switch. Similarly, Sony announced its own State of Play stream, airing March 25. Between the regular Nintendo Direct presentations, Microsoft's Inside Xbox and new ID@Xbox Game Pass streams, and Sony's new State of Play streams, all three major platform holders are now hosting their own streaming programs.
Check below for a schedule of times, and come back here at show time to watch it all go down.
Microsoft ID@Xbox Game Pass March 26 Livestream Start Time
9 AM PT
12 PM ET
4 PM GMT
3 AM AET
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