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GRID 2, the 2013 sequel to Race Driver: GRID, is no longer available on digital storefronts across PC, PS3 or Xbox 360.
The game has been removed from sale, and while the reasons for this aren’t clear, odds are that rights to cars, tracks, or music may have expired. Race Driver: GRID was similarly delisted in January 2017.
If you visit the game’s Steam page, you’re greeted with the following message: “at the request of the publisher, GRID 2 is no longer available for sale on Steam.” The game is also no longer available to purchase digitally on either Xbox 360 or PS3, although no reason is listed on either store.
It’s a shame, because GRID 2 was a great racer. As Shaun McInnis said in his 8.5/10 review back in 2013, “this is a game that wants you to experience the thrill of breakneck street racing, and gives you all the tools necessary to do just that.”
If you’ve purchased GRID 2 at an earlier point, it remains available to download onto your account and play.
GRID is being rebooted later this year with a new series entry, which will release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on October 11. The third game in the series, GRID Autosport, is also getting ported to Switch.
Australia’s Interactive Games and Entertainment Association has spoken on DayZ’s classification drama down under, stating that the ratings guideline forbidding the use of “illicit or proscribed drugs” in a way that could be interpreted as an incentive or reward is “not representative of what a reasonable Australian would see as a reason to effectively ban a piece of creative content.”
The Australian Classification Board recently determined Bohemia Interactive’s DayZ (which has been playable as a standalone game since 2013) would be refused classification due to “illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards,” a video game rating hurdle that has persisted in Australia despite the major reforms of 2013. The RC rating came after an unsuccessful application to rate the retail console version due out later this year. DayZ was already available digitally in Australia, rated MA15+ by the automated International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) classification tool used by the Australian Classification Board to ensure the tens of thousands of digital games released each year have some kind of classification advice.
Every Sunday, New Releases breaks down the upcoming week in games. As we near the halfway point of August, Nintendo Switch continues to stack its library with the Grandia HD Collection and its own port of Friday the 13th: The Game. Sci-fi fans can take flight with Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw or platform through a virtual computer with Exception. On the fantasy side, Dicey Dungeons also rolls out this week.
Friday the 13th: The Game – Ultimate Slasher Edition — August 13
Available on: Switch
Apparently August is the month for horror games, at least on Switch. The Ultimate Slasher Edition includes all of the previously released DLC, giving you plenty of movie costume options for Jason. One player will take control of Jason himself, while the others play as Camp Crystal Lake counselors, trying to survive the night.
More Coverage:
Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw — August 13
Available on: PC
While the original Rebel Galaxy limited how you could steer your ship, the sequel lets you fly in full 3D, where pilot Juno Markev must contend with space truckers, criminals, and more. There are plenty of options for spaceship colors and weapons as you zoom through space and engage in dogfights.
More Coverage:
Exception — August 13
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Exception sees you playing as a computer program tracking down an evil virus. As you might guess from the screenshot above, that means plenty of platforming and combat as you flip through each rotating stage. What’s more, you can compete for high scores on each level through online leaderboards.
Dicey Dungeons — August 13
Available on: PC
As the name implies, you play as a die in Dicey Dungeons. Each of the six classes has its own special abilities, but no matter which you choose, you’ll still have to build a strategic deck as you venture through procedurally generated dungeons. Dicey Dungeons is a roguelike, so prepare to roll the dice in more ways than one.
Grandia HD Collection — August 16
Available on: Switch
The Grandia series is pretty beloved, and now you’ll be able to play Grandia 1 and 2 anywhere. The first game is turn-based, while the sequel sports a different battle system that lets you move around during combat. Both games also feature prettier graphics–this is an HD collection, after all.
More Coverage:
August has plenty of games to come, and next week New Releases will take a look at the latest from two well-known studios. Double Fine is launching its new action game Rad, and the up-and-coming Tokyo RPG Factory is releasing Oninaki.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar is a new game in the cooking series that started on the Nintendo DS back in 2006. It will be the eleventh Cooking Mama game, and the announcement frames it as a reboot. The last game in the series was Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop for the 3DS.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar is due to arrive this fall on Nintendo Switch, and will be the first console game to integrate blockchain technology.
Although this was actually announced back in February, it went under the radar until now, when a listing on the Australian Classification website alerted folks to the game’s existence. The game, originally called Cooking Mama: Coming Home to Mama, seemingly went through a name change at some point.
“Each purchased copy of the game will have unique IDs which will be managed directly through the game’s internal wallet storage,” the announcement read. “Players will be able to focus on Cooking Mama’s user experience rather than cryptographic key management.”
This will be used to make every copy of the game “subtly different and personal to a user”, allowing the game to “change expression algorithms for characters, ingredients and cooking methods.”
Of course, since this press release came out in February, it’s possible that these plans have changed.
Beyond this, the real meat of the announcement – pardon the pun – is the addition of a new, optional vegetarian mode, which will allow players to ditch meat in favor of meatless recipes. This is the first game in the series to do so, and aims to make the game more palatable to potential vegetarian fans.
Players will be able to switch between and cook in both ‘traditional’ and ‘vegetarian’ modes. Cooking Mama: Cookstar will use a mix of motion gestures and traditional controls in its recipes.
At the WWE SummerSlam PPV – from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada – high-flying former United States Champion Ricochet battled in Nightwing-inspired wrestling gear when he faced current U.S. Champ AJ Styles.
Normally, Ricochet isn’t covered up as much as he is here, in Dick Grayson-type tactical gear, with even some blue on the legs with a Robin-style “R” (for Ricochet). But the guy’s an athletic phenom and definitely someone who seemed right at home donning the DC Comics crimefighter’s costume.
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince will release on October 8, and we’ve got a new trailer to go alongside the announcement. The game is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC.
On the same day, Trine: Ultimate Collection will release, physically bundling all four games in the series. Trine 4 will retail for $29.99, while the Ultimate Collection will cost $49.99 on all systems.
The Ultimate Edition will include:
Trine Series Original Soundtrack (download code)
Trine 4 Digital Art Book (download code)
Collector’s Reversible Cover Sheet
Physical Trine 4 World Map
The physical edition of Trine 4 will also come with the world map.
The trailer above shows off the numerous additions made to the fourth game in the series, including new combat options, new skills to use, and the new four player mode. Previous Trine games cut you off at three players, and this is our first look at how this game will handle a fourth.
Trine 4 follows on from 2015’s divisive Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, but is returning to the 2.5D gameplay style of the first two games in the series. Our impressions of the game so far have been positive.
Players will be able to get their hands on Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince in just under two months.
The XIII remake, originally announced for a 2019 release back in April, has been delayed into next year.
The cult classic shooter was originally released for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC in 2003, and the remake is set to update the game for a modern audience. It’s now coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2020.
François Coulon, Head of Production at publisher Microïds, announced in a press release that while they are “thrilled” with the work developer PlayMagic has put into the game, “additional development time is needed to reach the level of polish we’re aiming for.”
No specific time frame within 2020 has been set for the game’s release.
The original XIII was published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Paris and Southend Interactive. It cast players as Thirteen, an amnesiac enigma accused of assassinating the president, who must discover who is he is and untangle the wider conspiracy he’s caught up in. The concept art posted on the PlayStation Blog alongside the remake’s announcement suggests that the game will be receiving a dramatic visual overhaul. We’re yet to see any footage from the remake, so it’s unclear just how extensive a remake it will be.
While our original review of XIII (published all the way back in 2003) was less-than-glowing, arguing that “the total package isn’t one that will hold the interest of most first-person shooter players”, the game built up a fanbase after its release because of its ambitious narrative and stellar art design.
Decay of Logos, an ambitious RPG that reminds us of both Breath of the Wild and Princess Mononoke, is releasing towards the end of August.
The game is a story of revenge about a girl and her elk, who set out to find the truth and take down the culprits after the girl’s village is destroyed. Getting revenge will involve battling a lot of enemies, searching through numerous dungeons, and exploring a world influenced by high fantasy tales and European folklore.
The game has been in development since at least 2014, when game designer André Constantino built a prototype that would become fleshed out further when he joined with Amplify Creations in 2015. The creation process has been covered in an extensive DevLog on the game’s official site.
Decay of Logos is the first game from Amplify Creations, and because the company specialises in middleware, it was made mostly using in-house tech.
The developers don’t want the game, which will involve open-world exploration and combat that mixes swordplay with magic abilities (plus your elk, who can run in and headbutt enemies), to hold player’s hands too much, so expect to have to find your own way forward.
Decay of Logos will hit PS4 first on August 27, before coming to Switch on August 29. Xbox One and Steam players will have to wait until August 30. It’s being published by Rising Star Games.
Welcome to IGN’s Daily Deals, your source for the best deals on the stuff you actually want to buy. You can also follow us at Twitter @igndeals.
We bring you the best deals we’ve found today on video games, hardware, electronics, and a bunch of random stuff too. Updated 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
$1100 Off the 70″ Sony BRAVIA XBR-70X830F 4K Smart HDTV, Now $898
The Sony XBR X830 series is a premium end TV from Sony. Sony’s XBR TVs are their cream of the crop with excellent picture quality and quality construction. It normally retails for $2000 but today you can get a huge discount on it. In fact, this is the first time I’ve seen a massive 70″ XBR-series TV priced under $1K. On top of that you get free home delivery.
