Month: October 2018

THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games have released a new trailer for Darksiders 3, the upcoming entry in the video game series about the four horsemen of the apocalypse. This newest Darksiders game focuses on the third horsemen, Fury, who’s the sister to the series’ previous protagonists, War and Death.

The new trailer offers the first look at Fury’s Force Hollow, one of the four forms she can switch between in the game. With each new Hollow, Fury can change her appearance, power set, and available weaponry. In Force Hollow, Fury’s hair glows purple and she’s able to walk along crystalized walls. She also gains access to a powerful hammer that doubles as a battle axe. An earlier trailer revealed Fury’s Flame Hollow, which covers her hair in a burning blaze and allows her to propel herself through the air as a fireball. It also gives her the ability to sheathe her weapons in flame and wield speedy nunchucks.

In Darksiders 3, Fury, the leader of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, is tasked by The Charred Council to restore the balance between heaven and earth by hunting down and destroying the Seven Deadly Sins. Although Darksiders 3 incorporates much of the series’ hack-‘n-slash gameplay, Fury–as a mage–is able to pull off a wider variety of magical attacks and special abilities. Because of this, Darksiders 3 plays out a lot more like a Dark Souls game in comparison to Darksiders and Darksiders 2.

Darksiders 3 launches on November 27 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The game comes in Standard, Deluxe, Blades & Whip, Collector’s, and Apocalypse Editions. If you pre-order any edition of Darksiders 3, you’ll get access to an exclusive armor set, and pre-ordering the Deluxe or Blades & Whip Editions gives you early 24-hour access to the game.

The management of the Entertainment Software Associate has gotten a sudden shake-up. Michael Gallagher, who has served as president and CEO, is stepping down after 11 years. The reasons behind the shuffling are unclear, CNET notes.

Stanley Pierre-Louis, the former senior VP and general counsel, will step in as interim CEO in Gallagher’s stead. The group didn’t give a reason behind the change. In a statement, Gallagher praised the organization’s “unbroken string of victories in the states, on Capitol Hill, and before the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“Mike has been an exceptional leader and important voice for the video game industry for more than a decade,” said ESA chairman Robert Altman, in a statement. “Under Mike’s leadership, ESA has developed a strong reputation with policy makers for vigorously defending the industry during watershed moments, including the industry’s victory on First Amendment principles before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mike was also instrumental in revitalizing E3 into the most prominent and important industry show produced today. We want to thank Mike for his many contributions and wish him well as he pursues new opportunities.”

GameSpot has contacted the ESA for comment and will update as more information becomes available.

The ESA has represented the industry’s interests in many high-profile proceedings. Gallagher himself was one of the industry representatives who met with President Trump during a summit on video game violence, following a tragic shooting in Parkland, FL. Under Gallagher’s leadership the company has chimed in on politics that tangentially relate to video games, from criticizing comments that developers found insulting to applauding STEM programs. It also organizes the annual E3 gaming convention, which recently opened its doors to the public.

Most recently, the ESA stepped forward to publicly disagree with a meta-analysis study that concluded video games resulted in increased aggression and fights among school age children between 9 and 19. The study itself cited increased visits to the principal’s office for fights at school among gamers, while the ESA’s rebuttal cited a reduction in violent crime over the same period.

CD Projekt Red has announced that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will “be responsible for the distribution and promotion of Cyberpunk 2077 in North America, and will bring the game to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”

“We’ve worked with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and both releases turned out to be really successful, so we’re entering this new stage of our cooperation with great confidence,” CD Projekt Red’s Member of the Board and SVP of Business Development, Michał Nowakowski, said on its website.

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One of the benefits you receive for subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online service is access to a library of classic NES games, all of which support online play. 20 titles are currently available on the service, with Nintendo promising to add more to the library regularly, and it turns out we won’t have to wait too long for the first new batch of titles to arrive.

Nintendo confirmed on Twitter that three more vintage games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online’s NES library next week, on October 10: Solomon’s Key, Super Dodge Ball, and NES Open Tournament Golf. All three titles will be available in each region.

Solomon’s Key is a puzzle game in which players control a wizard who can conjure up and remove blocks, and they must use that ability to collect the key in each room while avoiding enemies. Super Dodge Ball, as its name suggests, is an NES take on the sport, while NES Open is a spiritual precursor to the Mario Golf series.

If you’re a subscriber to the Nintendo Switch Online service, you’ll be able to download the NES – Nintendo Switch Online app for free from the Eshop or Nintendo’s website. More titles will be added to the library each month. In November, Nintendo will introduce Metroid, Mighty Bomb Jack, and TwinBee; in December, Wario’s Woods, Ninja Gaiden, and Adventures of Lolo will be added.

As previously mentioned, all NES games on the service support some form of online play, though in traditionally single-player titles like The Legend of Zelda, it’s limited to screen sharing and “passing” control of the game back and forth. However, it might not be readily apparent how to set that up, so we’ve outlined how to play Switch’s NES games online.

Disney is working on live-action remakes of a lot of its classic and princess-related library, with movies like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella having released alongside The Jungle Book and the upcoming The Lion King. A new report suggests it’s reaching into some more recent and non-traditional films as well, with a remake of Lilo & Stitch on the docket.

THR reports that Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, the duo behind the Aladdin remake, are also producing the Lilo & Stitch remake as a CGI/live-action hybrid. The studio has tapped Mike Van Waes (The Conjuring) to write the script. The report notes that this film could be aimed at Disney’s streaming service rather than a theatrical release.

Lilo & Stitch tells a story of a young misfit Hawaiian girl being raised by her elder sister, who comes upon a wild alien named Stitch that was engineered as a living weapon. The two quickly form a bond as outcasts–and as they’re pursued by social workers and aliens alike, they learn to look out for each other. Presumably, Stitch and the other aliens would be rendered in CG alongside real-world actors.

Lilo & Stitch has developed a cult following over the years, particularly for its realistic portrayal of a non-traditional family and brash, distinctly un-princess-like female heroine. It was also much more notably an action sci-fi movie than many Disney films, given its real-world setting and influences. It spawned several sequels and TV series.