Author: Trafficblast

The classic platforming franchise Bubble Bobble is coming back. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends recreates the old bubble-based challenge with co-op for up to four players, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. It will hit Europe on November 19, followed by a North American release sometime in early 2020.

A brief trailer shows off the new 4-player co-op, along with a revised art style–think the classic Bubble Bobble, with some bright Pac Man Championship Edition-like visual flourishes. It even pays homage to fellow Taito series Space Invaders with a stage showing the familiar pixel-art aliens.

Bubble Bobble was an arcade game first, later ported to consoles, and from the inception it always had a co-op element as players controlled Bob and Bub. This updated version shows a player select screen with those two (Bubblun and Bobblun) along with a yellow dragon (Cucurun) and a pink dragon (Cororon). The select screen also shows the players picking their skills (in this case all of them set to “Thunder Bubble”).

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Rare has announced a new update cadence for Sea of Thieves, promising new content on a regular monthly schedule. The studio says that updates will begin dropping on the second Wednesday of every month, giving the community a more predictable schedule to clear their calendar and take to the high seas.

The new schedule starts with this month’s update, Dark Relics. It features spooky skeletons stealing dangerous artifacts, which you can trade for gold and rep. Plus the update includes special challenges for pirate legends, Reaper’s Mark chests with special loot, grappling hooks for your dinghies, and more. Check out the trailer below to see it all in action.

Sea of Thieves had a rough launch with middling reviews, but Rare has continued to add more content on a regular basis with free updates. Those included a big anniversary update and a ship that paid homage to the Halo series.

As a first-party game from Microsoft, Sea of Thieves was included with Xbox Game Pass at launch, and it’s still available through the subscription service if you want to give these latest updates a whirl. One third-party developer recently revealed that, somewhat counter-intuitively, being included on Game Pass appears to have dramatically boosted its sales. For more on Microsoft’s strategy surrounding Game Pass as it heads into the next generation, check out our in-depth interview with Xbox head Phil Spencer.

One of the world’s biggest gaming shows, Gamescom, takes place next week in Germany, and Microsoft is among the big companies attending the event. Microsoft has now announced more details about its plans for the show, one part of which is an Inside Xbox episode that promises news and more.

The new Inside Xbox episode is scheduled to premiere on Monday, August 19, at 5 PM local time in Germany. That works out to 8 AM PT and 11 AM ET. For viewers in Australia, well, it’s not an ideal time–1 AM. The broadcast airs on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

As for the content of the Inside Xbox event, Microsoft is premiering Gears 5‘s Horde mode, while the company will also show “nearly a dozen” brand-new trailers for other games. On top of that, there will be “big news and reveals” for a number of games and expansions, including Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (the multiplayer reveal), Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Wasteland 3, Empire of Sin, Greedfall, The Surge 2, Vigor, Metro Exodus, and Blair Witch. There will also be news about Xbox Game Pass and the return of Microsoft’s X0 event in London later this year.

What’s more, Microsoft is promising news about “new accessories,” as well as a series of other surprises.

Those who travel to Cologne, Germany for Gamescom can watch the Inside Xbox broadcast live at the Gloria Theater. It’s not clear if this is a live episode or if people will simply sit in a theatre and watch the broadcast. Whatever the case, entry is on a first-come, first-served basis; you must be 18 years or older to attend.

Additionally, Microsoft is holding an event called Xbox Open Doors, where people can attend every night of the show from 5-10 PM local time August 21-23 to play games and more. More details will be shared on Xbox Dach’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

In addition to Xbox, there is an Opening Night press conference hosted by Geoff Keighley scheduled for August 19. Publishers like 2K, Activision, EA, and others have signed on, so you can expect news or trailers for their upcoming games, while Keighley’s close friend Hideo Kojima will be on hand to provide an “exclusive” preview of Death Stranding.

Google Stadia also has a press conference of its own scheduled for August 19. This is the company’s Nintendo Direct-style pre-recorded Stadia Connect briefing where the company is expected to reveal more details about the streaming service.

Gamescom 2019 Press Conference Schedule

Monday, August 19

• Inside Xbox — 5 PM CEST, 8 AM PT, 11 AM ET
• Google Stadia Connect — 7 PM CEST, 10 AM PT, 1 PM ET
• Opening Night Live Conference — 8 PM CEST, 11 AM PT, 2 PM ET

Read next: Phil Spencer Is Exactly Who You Think He Is

Video game “crunch”–or the process of overworking developers towards the end of a game’s production or in the lead up to milestone reviews–has been a hot button issue for many years, but particularly in 2019.

Gearbox Software, the developer of Borderlands 3, recently spoke with VG247 about the studio’s policy on crunch, and why they don’t do it.

“We are not a crunch studio,” multiplayer producer Chris Burke said. “We don’t do the thing where we say, ‘Hey, everyone’s going to be working 10 hours, or 12 hours a day,’ or whatever. We don’t do that.”

“It is hard to completely avoid it, because you’ve got people–Okay, I’m going to name drop a guy, he’s probably going to be pissed. We have a guy, Brad Sierzega. He is one of our level artists for the game, so if you like the way Promethea looks, you can thank Brad Sierzega. He is a guy who knows that every second he puts in the game improves the game. I can’t actually even stop him.”

“On the one side, you’ve heard the horror stories of devs who’ve driven their people into the ground. And then, there are other stories, where it’s like, ‘Man, you guys have to calm down, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And you can’t just burn yourself up right now,'” Burke continued.

More and more developers and studios have spoken out about crunch this year. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser claimed that some employees were working 100-hour weeks on Red Dead Redemption 2, the closure of Telltale Games unearthed some painful truths, MachineGames admitted it’s trying to eliminate crunch, Massive Entertainment talked to us about it, and top Bethesda devs spoke out on why crunch is bad. Crunch has always existed in video game development, but with more developers speaking out and the public becoming more aware, it seems to be a slightly less frequent issue at least.

Borderlands 3 launches on September 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

After a two-year break, Need for Speed is back with a new entry in the long-running racing series. Developer Ghost Games, responsible for 2017’s Need for Speed Payback, is back at the starting line with Need for Speed Heat, which will launch on November 8 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Need for Speed Heat takes you to Palm City, a “brand-new open world where street racers have gathered to make their names known,” according to a press release. On the streets of Palm City, you will compete in Speedhunters Showdowns to earn cash to customize and upgrade your rides. But be careful during nightfall, as rogue cops patroling the darkened streets eagerly look for racers to knock down a few pegs. Need for Speed Heat is said to feature “expressive customization, authentic urban car culture, and an immersive narrative.” Check out the announcement trailer below.

Pre-orders for Need for Speed Heat are available now. Reserving the standard edition nets you a special edition Mitsubishi Evolution X, while banking on the Deluxe Edition gives you three special edition cars: a BMW i8 Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, and Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe. In addition to those, the Deluxe Edition contains exclusive character clothing and extra in-game currency. A 10 percent discount is awarded to those who pre-order through Need for Speed Payback’s in-game menu.

Need for Speed Heat is set to launch on November 8, but those with EA Acess and Origin Access Basic (or Origin Access Premier on PC) get 10 hours of game time beginning on November 5.

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