The My Arcade Retro Champ is essentially a Nintendo version of the Game Gear that never existed. It’s a portable console you can use to play both old-school Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Famicom cartridges.
The Retro Champ features a 7-inch LCD screen for playing on the go, similar to the Nintendo Switch. And just like Nintendo’s latest console, this portable NES features a kickstand that props up the console when you’re tired of holding it.
Alternatively, users can plug in the Retro Champ into a TV using the HDMI port located on the back of the device to play their retro games on the big screen. Of course, you’ll want a controller for this type of play and users can connect this system to one of My Arcade’s wireless controllers like the SuperPad—which didn’t add any discernible lag to me.
Once upon a time, networks were in a scramble to find the “next Lost.” One of those shows, funnily enough, was ABC’s Once Upon a Time.
Now comes the race to fill the void left by HBO’s Game of Thrones, which went out with massive ratings. Which upcoming genre show will captivate audiences worldwide, filling our hearts with fantasy and wonder? Will it be more R-rated fare like Thrones or will something a bit more innocuous slip through the cracks?
Ahead you’ll find a few of the large scale action/adventure series on the horizon – splashy and spectacular shows stemming from books and comics. Superheroes, monster slayers, Fizzgigs, and Aragorns – here’s a quick rundown of what might become the next Game of Thrones-size hit. Flip through the slideshow or continue on to the eight TV shows that could be the next Game of Thrones below…
BAFTA has given a special award to Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite and Gears of War, among other franchises. The company was given the award in a ceremony in LA, the host city of E3 2019, for its “impact on the global games industry.”
As well as developing Fortnite and the first four Gears of War titles, Epic also counts among its achievements the Unreal Tournament series and the industry standard development tool Unreal Engine. More recently, the company opened its own storefront as a rival to Steam. It also announced in March that it’s created a $100 million fund for developers that was made possible thanks to the success of Fortnite.
“We are delighted to honor Epic Games with a BAFTA special award,” said BAFTA Games committee chair Dr Jo Twist, OBE. “Their impact on the global games industry and its evolution has been extraordinary and we are pleased to be recognizing that this evening. Epic Games have empowered and supported creativity in the industry for over 20 years and they continue to innovate on established industry practice and champion the creative community.”
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said: “The team has worked so hard to make these things reality and create art and be recognized for it. I hope this is just the beginning of the quest. We’re trying to create a whole new world around digital entertainment and I think we’re just at the beginning of it.”
This is not the first award BAFTA has handed to Epic–Fortnite won the Evolving Game category at this year’s Game BAFTAs. The battle royale title has gone on to become one of the most successful games ever made, with over 250 million registered players. Epic continues to evolve the game, with its latest patch adding a proximity grenade launcher and a Horde Rush mode.
During the Inside Xbox stream this week at E3 2019, Microsoft announced a unique crossover event between Sea of Thieves and Halo. A Halo-inspired Spartan Ship Set is now available in Sea of Thieves, and it looks pretty rad.
To get the Set, all you need to do is play the Sea of Thieves Arena mode before 23:59 BST on Saturday. Alternatively, everyone who plays The Arena at E3 this week gets it.
We’re proud to unveil the @Halo-inspired Spartan Ship Set, made in partnership with our friends at 343 Industries. Earn it by battling in The Arena on the E3 show floor OR by playing #SeaOfThieves at any time between now and 23:59 BST on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/GOrjvzmBzc
The set includes a Spartan Hull depicting Master Chief, as well as Spartan Sails that have the UNSC logo on them. The ship overall has a green tint fitting of Halo. Check out the video embedded above to see what the Set looks like in game.
Sea of Thieves appeared on GameSpot’s E3 2019 stage show today where the developers talked about the struggles and successes of the game’s first year, as well as what’s on tap for Year 2. Check out the video at the top of the page to see more.
Earlier this week at E3 2019 it was confirmed that indie developer House House’s wacky and wonderful-looking Untitled Goose Game will launch on PC as a timed-exclusive for the Epic Games Store. Some people got upset about this. Now, House House has explained why it decided to go with Epic for the launch of Untitled Goose Game on PC.
Posting on Twitter, the studio reminded fans that it is a small, four-person team that has worked over the years on a “tight budget.” As such, working Epic gives the Melbourne, Australia-based team a level of security it didn’t have on its own.
“House House is a small independent studio that has been operating on a tight budget for years, so a partnership like this gives us a means to make games sustainably for the foreseeable future,” it said. “In an industry like ours, this kind of stability is huge.”
Untitled Goose Game will be released on other PC platforms in the future, after the Epic Games Store exclusivity period ends.
Untitled Goose Game has you controlling a goose who is a jerk. The game gives you a “to-do” list of tasks to complete, and you’ll need to manipulate objects around the environment to figure out how to clear each objective. One, for instance, is to enter a garden, but the gate is closed. You need to pick up a nearby radio with your beak to get the groundskeeper’s attention, then slip in when he opens the gate to investigate.
It is House House’s second game, following the well-received title Push Me Pull You which is a co-op game where players share a worm-like body and are joined at the waist.
Persona 5 DLC, with full English voice over by the original cast, has been announced for Catherine: Full Body.
During the Catherine: Full Body Experience and E3 Celebration, a brand new trailer was shown, showcasing the Joker + Phantom Thieves DLC. It looks to be the same DLC the Japanese version of Catherine: Full Body got last year, which allowed you to play as Joker in the Babel and Coliseum modes with commentary by the Phantom Thieves, and included some music from the notoriously amazing sound track. If you play Catherine: Full Body, you may hear some similarities – both it and Persona 5 have music composed by Shoji Meguro.
Catch a look at Joker in action in a level from the Japanese version of Catherine: Full Body above.
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Microsoft announced a brand-new high-end controller at its big E3 2019 press conference. It’s called the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, and it’s set to release on November 4. But you don’t have to wait until then to secure one for yourself. It’s already available for preorder at a number of retailers.
Defining the story through your choices is at the heart of pen-and-paper RPGs, and that makes it the center of CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077. That’s nothing new for CD Projekt coming off the Witcher series, but what feels remarkable about what we’ve seen of Cyberpunk so far is the number of elements it mixes to make the story feel bespoke to the character you’ve created. None of the ideas CD Projekt uses to build out a flexible narrative are new–it uses dialogue trees, branching narratives, multiple paths through mission and combat encounters, and character stats. What’s impressive, though, is how many variations Cyberpunk 2077 seems to offer players, and how often the choices you make will influence your gameplay and the story the game tells you.
CD Projekt RED showed a new demo of the game behind closed doors at E3 2019. This one focused on gameplay, walking through a mission with two different versions of V, the player character. Even still, there were plenty of conversations to work through and decisions to make that influenced the story, starting with character creation. At the start of the game, you set your character’s gender (just male and female, it seems) and their proclivities. As previously detailed, Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t include set classes; instead, it sports a “fluid class system” that allows you to choose a variety of different abilities and perks as you level up.
You’ll define your character in a lot of other ways as well. There are three backstory options to choose from that fill out what your childhood was like, while also defining what kind of person you are by investing points in a variety of stats. There’s Nomad, a Mad Max-like roaming gang existence; Street Kid, an urchin upbringing in the city; and Corporate, an origin among the straight-laced life.
All those elements (and a whole bunch more) influence your path through V’s story in Night City. The demo showed a mission in which V headed to Pacifica, the southernmost of Night City’s six distinct districts and which is mostly populated by immigrants from Haiti, to try to enlist the help of a gang called the Voodoo Boyz. Pacifica is pretty vastly different from the Night City we’ve previously seen. The district was initially planned as a beach-side resort area, and corporations poured money into creating m hotels and malls. Somewhere along the way, though, plans fell through. The money dried up, the corporations moved out, and Pacifica became a mostly abandoned locale where some of Night City’s poorest live. There isn’t even really a police presence in the district, making it unsafe even by Night City standards.
As developers explained, V has “biochip” stuck in their head and needs it removed. It contains the “secret to immortality,” and something else–Johnny Silverhand. The “digital ghost” of the Cyberpunk 2020 character, played by Keanu Reeves in the game, was introduced during CD Projekt’s appearance during Microsoft’s E3 press conference. He resides in your head, and your relationship with him (and how you choose to shape it through your choices) will be a big part of the story.
Mercenary For Hire
Of course, help from the Voodoo Boyz doesn’t come easy. When you enter Pacifica, you meet with Placid, a high-level Netrunner (or hacker to non-cyberpunks) who means to put you on a job in exchange for the gang’s assistance. Your interactions with Placid includes lots of choices. You get standard dialogue options for your responses when speaking with him, while others open up based on context and the unique aspects of your character. For instance, if you choose the Street Kid backstory, your experience in gangs in your youth can give you insights into the inner turmoil of the group, which unlocks different responses. If you pumped points into Intelligence, V might recognize something technical in Placid’s interactions with an underling that adds another response.
Things going on in the room with you also add response possibilities, as do perks you unlock–being a skilled Netrunner might let you talk shop with Placid. You’ll also see all those options, whether they’re available or not, on the screen when you choose your responses, so you know exactly what you’re missing.
During their conversation about the job, there’s a moment when Placid reaches out and grabs V’s network link cable, a wire that slips out of V’s wrist that directly links to their brain. It’s how you “jack in” to networks and computers to get information, but using it carries a lot of danger–just as you can use it to access systems, systems can use it to access you. It’s a significant invasion of your space and safety for Placid to touch the cable and try to jack V in without their consent. The moment showed a different kind of interactive conversation moment: the player could choose for V to recoil from Placid’s reach, but a timer showed you only have a brief window to make that call.
Your actions and interactions also influence a stat called “Street Cred.” As you increase your cred through completing missions and doing other such things, you’ll gain access to more content, CD Projekt said. That might mean shopkeepers end up trusting you enough to offer you better, more illicit, or more illegal goods, or it might be new options in dialogue and new sidequests you wouldn’t get access to if you hadn’t built up a reputation.
Placid eventually dispatches you on a mission to figure out what another rival gang, the Animals, are doing in Pacifica. They’ve taken up residence in the Grand Imperial Mall, far from their usual territory, and he needs someone to go in and find out what they’re up to. There are plenty of choices for how you deal with the enemies there, and CD Projekt explained that you could complete the entire game without killing anyone if you so choose. Choosing between going lethal or non-lethal won’t necessarily have huge effects on the story, lead quest designer Pawel Sasko told GameSpot, but there are story moments where your choice to finish someone off or spare them will have lasting consequences.
Choosing A Side
After sneaking around and fighting (and killing) a whole bunch of gangsters, the mission ended with V discovering the secret of what’s happening in the mall: a government agency called Netwatch is using a surveillance van to break into the Voodoo Boyz’s network to hunt them all down. Your actual mission, which Placid didn’t fully explain, is to take out the Netwatch agent in the mall. When you find and confront the agent, he introduces another twist–he says the Voodoo Boyz call in outside contractors like you because you’re disposable, and if you link the Voodoo Boyz into Netwatch’s network as instructed, they’ll kill you.
V had several options for responding to Mosley, the Netwatch agent, including asking him for more evidence or distrusting him outright thanks to the Street Kid backstory experience. You can choose to side with the government (or stay off its bad side) in this moment, or complete your mission for Placid, and that decision leads to vastly different outcomes.
In the end, V chose to trust Placid and did as instructed. But Mosley was right, and seconds after making the connection, the Voodoo Boyz remotely cooked the brains of everyone on the Netwatch network–including V.
The betrayal didn’t entirely take, though. V woke up some eight hours later with the ghostly Johnny standing over them; it seems that biochip and the imaginary friend in V’s head might have helped them survive an otherwise lethal brain-hacking situation. Leaving the mall, V surprised the Voodoo Boyz lookouts waiting outside, who expected everyone inside to be dead. The player chose to let the gangsters drive V back to Placid to confront him. A handful of dialogue choices presented themselves, including one that had V just straight-up punch Placid in the face.
The last scene of the demo found Brigitte, the Voodoo Boyz’s real leader, making good on the promise to help despite the previous attempt to murder V. That would require heading into cyberspace to look for another Cyberpunk 2020 character who seems to be central to the game: Alt Cunningham. In the pen-and-paper sourcebooks, Cunningham developed a technology that could allow Netrunners to copy their brains into a fully digital form. Thanks to more murder and betrayal, Cunningham’s physical body was killed, but she survived as the first fully digitized person, escaping into the internet. To figure out the biochip and Johnny’s deal, it seems, V needs Cunningham’s help. V had the option to discuss the situation with Johnny before deciding to hop into cyberspace, a Matrix code-like realm, further emphasizing that for much of the game, Johnny seems to be a confidant and something of a partner. The demo ended just before V could determine if Cunningham, missing for some 50 years, is still alive–or still human.
None of the story elements in the Cyberpunk 2077 demo were major innovations. Franchises like Deus Ex, Mass Effect, and The Witcher have used all of these ideas to great effect in telling their stories. But Cyberpunk seems to use all the tricks and ideas in choice-based narrative games that have come before to greatly increase the ways the game’s story can feel uniquely yours, thanks to the V you create and your decisions along the way.
Of course, not every choice is monumental or triggering a significant change in the story; most probably don’t really matter. But Cyberpunk’s attention to detail in giving you so many options depending on different contexts looks like it’ll go a long way to making it feel very responsive. All these things look like they’ll go into helping players develop a V that will seem uniquely theirs. When the game finally launches on April 16, 2020, we’ll see how successfully those elements work together.
The first impression of CD Projekt RED’s closed-door demo of Cyberpunk 2077 at E3 2019 is that it’s taken a lot of influence from similar titles, such as Deus Ex games. The hour-long session focused extensively on the kind of gameplay you’ll take part in as you adventure through Night City, with a specific look at the choices available to you in combat and story situations. The big takeaway: you’ll get lots of options for working through an area or dealing with combat depending on your playstyle and decisions.
Cyberpunk’s RPG underpinnings mostly come through in its “fluid class system,” which allows you to pick abilities and perks from a variety of areas to develop your own version of V, the game’s main character. That means you don’t have to be a specialized Net Runner (read: hacker) or Strong Solo (read: super-strong brawler) in particular; you can mix and match your abilities to fit your desired play style. The abilities you choose will give you a variety of options for dealing with combat, working your way through areas and missions, and interacting with other characters–similar to games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
CD Projekt’s E3 demo showed one such mission and the options available to two different variants on V. After seeking out a gang called the Voodoo Boys for help dealing with V’s “biochip” (which seems to contain a “digital ghost” version of Keanu Reeves’ character, Johnny Silverhand, who exists only in V’s head), V gets contracted to do a job for the gang. It entails venturing to the Grand Imperial Mall in the district of Pacifica, where a rival gang called the Animals have taken up residence. V’s job: infiltrate the building, figure out what the Animals are up to, and shut it down.
One version of V sneaked in through the mall’s loading dock, using cybernetic implants like an optical scanner to spot enemies and carefully move past them. Good thing, too–the Animals are known for bodybuilding and muscle-enhancement technology, and the weaker Netrunner V would have been handily pummeled if he’d been discovered. While you’ll have a lot of firepower at your disposal, as we saw in last year’s Cyberpunk demo, relying on stealth is an option as well.
A little further in, this version of V, who specialized as a Netrunner ran into a surveillance camera covering the hallway. A nearby network node offered an opportunity to hack in and take control of the camera by way of a quick hacking minigame–but slipping into the network offered its own problems.
Turns out, there’s a Netrunner hiding out in the mall somewhere running counter-hacking on you, and that’s no small thing. In Cyberpunk, hacking into people can be deadly; the only reason V survives this encounter is because of the help of the Voodoo Boys’ Netrunner, Placid, who is linked to your character during the mission to provide tactical support. Despite the interference, being connected to the network gives you the opportunity to mess with a number of devices throughout the mall.
Still undiscovered, V continued into a gym area where a few Animals were distracted watching one of their pals with a robot in a boxing ring. V’s “quick hack” skill allowed him to mess with the robot, ratcheting up its difficulty setting. That created a handy distraction as the bot brained his sparring partner, causing a handful of Animals to run over to see what was up. Just a little way further, the way was blocked by another Animal using a bench press station. Luckily, the Internet of Things is alive and well in the 2077–V quick-hacked the bench press to increase the weight, dispatching the poor enemy as the barbell choked him to death. That’s why you don’t lift without a spotter.
The quick hack ability has a lot of uses. V was able to commandeer a gun turret and switch off its friendly fire function, for instance. Quick hack looks very reminiscent of the remote hacking capabilities players get in the Watch Dogs franchise, with a lot of similar applications. He also carried a “nano wire,” a physical hacking cable he could throw at enemies at close range to jack into their brains, cooking them alive or causing them to attack their friends if you’ve purchased the right malicious software. Even cooler, though, was the fact the nano wire doubled as a laser whip–something borrowed directly from the cyberpunk movie Johnny Mnemonic (which also starred Reeves).
Switching speeds, CD Projekt showed the same mission with a female version of V who specialized in overwhelming force. Sporting cybernetic implants like gorilla strength, this V didn’t have the option to hack her way past the surveillance camera; instead, she ran to a nearby door and used brute strength to force it open. That created an alternate path into an elevator shaft, completely bypassing the Animals in the gym. The move gave off a very Deus Ex vibe, with alternate paths through areas accessible depending on your abilities and your playstyle.
That same access to alternative situations was true in the next room, where V faced the turret and nearby Animals. Instead of taking over the turret, this V simply ripped it off its moorings, turning it into a massive minigun and ravaging enemies with it. She also didn’t have the aversion to melee combat that her weaker Netrunner counterpart did and set about punching Animals to death, as well as stabbing them with broken bottles and other handy implements. You’ll also be able to wield things like swords, or deal with unaware enemies with stealthy takedowns–including environmental ones. At one point, V sneaked up behind an adversary standing next to a garbage chute, grabbed him by the neck, and bounced his head off a nearby wall before tossing him in, taking him out and disposing of his body in one move.
As with its many story choices, Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t seem to be breaking new ground with its approach to gameplay choices and playstyle iterations. A lot of similar games in the genre offer a lot of similar variations. But Cyberpunk’s balance of giving you lots of options that conform to your style, and making them all viable and interesting, makes it look pretty exciting. We only saw a small snapshot of what you’ll be able to do in the game, it seems–you’ll be able to play the whole game non-lethally, for instance, as well as mix and match a number of different abilities, too. All the different play styles and abilities look they’re receiving equal love from CD Projekt, which should make playing Cyberpunk 2077 a pretty responsive and individual experience, regardless of how you want to tackle Night City.
