Author: Trafficblast

Streets of Rage 4‘s soundtrack is being created by a veritable supergroup of legendary Japanese composers including Yuzo Koshiro, the composer of the soundtrack for the first three games in the beloved beat-em-up series. Joining Koshiro is Motohiro Kawashima, who is known for his work on Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3, as well as Shinobi 2, and the Batman Returns video game. Yoko Shimomura, one of gaming’s greatest composers, is also contributing. Her list of works is vast and includes some of gaming’s most beloved titles, including Street Fighter 2, the Kingdom Hearts series, Super Mario RPG, Legend of Mana, and Parasite Eve.

Another Sega alum, Hideki Naganuma, is also working on Streets of Rage 4’s music. His credits include the fantastic Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future soundtracks, in addition to Super Monkey Ball and Sega Rally 2. Finally, Ninja Gaiden, Captain Tsubasa, and Tecmo Bowl‘s Keiji Yamagishi is also on board.

Since Streets of Rage 4 was announced the question of whether Koshiro would be returning to lend his talents to the soundtrack has been key for fans of the series. Not only is he returning, but along with him developers Dotemu and Lizardcube have gathered an all-star team of talent.

“Among these names stand some of the most legendary and memorable musical architects in video game history,” said Streets of Rage 4’s executive producer Cyrille Imbert. “Since we first announced the title last fall, fans have been asking who will be involved in the game’s soundtrack as it is a vital element to the Streets of Rage games. We are thrilled to confirm this world-class lineup of musical talent for Streets of Rage 4.”

Alongside the announcement, a video offering insight into the direction the team is taking for the soundtrack has been published. For fans of the series, it has lots of interesting tidbits of information, including the fact that Koshiro pitched a Streets of Rage sequel, but Sega, which owns the property, wasn’t interested.

We played Streets of Rage 4 at PAX West 2018. GameSpot’s Alessandro Fillari said “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. Read our full Streets of Rage 4 hands-on preview for more.

A definitive release date for Streets of Rage 4, and the platforms it will be released for, are unknown as of yet.

The Nintendo Switch is getting a hardware revision in mid-August that gives a significant boost to battery life. However, this isn’t a Switch Lite-style revision with a completely new look. The new Nintendo Switch looks exactly like the old one. So if you’re looking for that better battery life, how can you tell the difference?

The key is in the packaging, per Nintendo’s product site. The original packaging features the system against a white background with a TV on the left side. The packaging for the new system is very similar, but instead shows the system against a red background with a TV on the right side. The revision also has the TV and Nintendo Switch itself shown from a slight angle, rather than a straight-forward shot. You can see the difference below:

Of course, if you end up purchasing the system used and out of the packaging, you may need to rely on a serial number to tell the difference. The old models start with a serial number “XAW” while the new model will start with the serial number “XKW.” You can locate the serial number on the bottom of a Nintendo Switch, on the left side.

The battery life difference is rather large, though. The old system promises a battery life from 2.5-6.5 hours, with more intensive games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild draining the battery much faster and ending on the lower side of that spectrum. The new one boasts 4.5-9 hours.

This news comes shortly after the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite. That hardware revision is much more different, and aimed at portable players. It removes the docking ability to connect with a TV and the controllers are no longer detachable. The reduced functionality may impact some games. It also has a budget price: $200 as opposed to the standard Switch’s $300.

The Luigi’s Mansion series is the one chance for the Mushroom Kingdom to get a little spooky, so it only makes sense that Luigi’s Mansion 3 is releasing on that spookiest of all holidays: all Hallows’ Eve, otherwise known as Halloween, or October 31. Nintendo announced the release date in a tweet.

As usual, this latest entry in the Luigi’s Mansion series will feature the taller, greener, more cowardly of the Mario Brothers exploring a haunted building and busting ghosts and nearly peeing his pants all the while. This time it’s in the haunted Last Resort Hotel.

Our look at the game from E3 2019 showed Luigi has some new tricks with his trusty Poltergust vacuum, and this game will feature a new local coop multiplayer mode. Producer Kensuke Tanabe also shared some thoughts on Luigi’s cowardice, though frankly he’s explored two entire haunted mansions which is probably more than you have, so give him a break.

The release date announcement came alongside word of a revised Nintendo Switch with better battery life, replacing the older models but remaining otherwise the same. This is a less conspicuous change than the also recently announced Switch Lite, which totally changes the form factor of the system and removes the docking functionality entirely. Both the revised Switch and the Switch Lite will be out in time for Luigi’s Mansion 3.