NBA Live is not a flagship EA Sports title in the way that heavy-hitters like FIFA and Madden are, and it has a tumultuous history at the company. However, the strides that last year’s NBA Live 19 made in a positive direction gave fans some hope that the series was back on track again. Now, it appears something might be amiss or changing with the pro basketball franchise.
EA announced today that NBA Live 20 is still coming, but it’s been delayed to EA’s FY20 Q3, which means the game is now scheduled to release between October 1 and December 31, 2019.
A spokesperson for EA Sports told GameSpot that NBA Live will feature a “different approach,” but it’s not clear if this is the reason for the delay.
“We’re planning a different approach to NBA Live this year, and will have more to share in the quarter ahead,” the spokesperson said.
In an earnings call today, EA CEO Andrew Wilson says EA as a company remains committed to making basketball games, and he remarked that the NBA Live series is getting better with each new instalment. He also acknowledged the rumours that NBA Live 20 will be a free-to-play title, but he didn’t confirm or deny anything.
This delay for NBA Live 20 is a big deal because it means the game will launch a while after competitor NBA 2K20, which arrives on September 6. In 2019, both NBA Live 19 and NBA 2K19 launched in the same week.
EA signalled that something might be changing with NBA Live this year when it released a roster update for NBA Live 19 to bring the game in line with all the wild off-season trades. Many wondered if this meant NBA Live 20 would be canceled, with players instead given the accurate rosters for the previous game. It seems EA still plans to release NBA Live 20, but it seems it will indeed be a non-traditional release.
If you’re old enough to remember Rune, then you likely have fond memories of smashing mead filled cups on the floor after a hearty chug, or ripping off enemies’ arms and beating them to death with it. The 2000s-era Viking-themed PC action-adventure from Human Head Studios stood apart from the dominant shooter market of the time, being one of the few PC games focused exclusively on melee combat. Alongside unflinching violence and an endearing use of Norse mythology, Rune manages to persevere in most people’s memories as a notable gem from the turn of the century.
A lot has changed in gaming since the first Rune, though. The scope of action-adventure games has dramatically expanded. Melee combat mechanics have evolved in countless ways. And Norse mythology-themed adventures are more prevalent now than ever before. It makes you wonder how the upcoming Rune II could even begin to make a dent against today’s action franchise heavyweights. But the truth is it’s not attempting to beat them at their own game. Retooled as an action-RPG with survival elements, Rune II‘s developers opted to iterate upon the original’s rudimentary action and exploration in ways that are faithful yet still ambitious and distinct for its relatively modest scope.
Set decades after the events of the first game, Rune II puts you in control of a new Viking warrior on a mission to defeat the trickster god Loki, who is manipulating the flow of time from afar to reset Ragnarok and create an infinite cycle of chaos. Naturally, it’s your job to stop him, but you can only do so by working up the power to enter the Realm Gate that he’s sealed himself behind.
The primary goal in Rune II seems straightforward, but accomplishing it is more complicated and less linear than you might imagine. You start the game on an island with no weapons and armor. You’re barely strong enough to hold your own in a fight, and everything wants to kill you. The game has you working from nothing, slowly scavenging the environment for resources to craft essential equipment, food, and lodging. All the while, you must actively explore the world in search of artifacts that can transport you to where Loki is hiding. You only need a handful to earn a chance to duel with the trickster god, but whether you’re strong enough is another matter entirely. The developers weren’t able to show me a Loki duel during our demo, but they told me that it’s a challenging fight and that you need to be incredibly skilled if you’re looking to conquer him on the first go.
Speaking of fighting, Rune II retains the quick mouse and keyboard-driven combat of the original; though, it will have controller support at launch. While its adherence to this tradition makes encounters a little clumsy, there’s still a degree of precision and strategy involved. Fights tend to be quick with overly aggressive enemies who push you to frequently bobbing and weaving trying to find openings. You possess an arsenal of attacks you can perform depending on the direction you’re moving and swinging, which demanded skill to execute with proper intention in the heat of battle.
The rhythm of combat and survival is more tense and hectic thanks to a countdown clock that ticks away as you play. The game can be broken down into periods called Ages, which each last about four hours. Every time Loki resets Ragnarok, a new age begins. Each affects the world in different ways to make your time spent fighting and exploring more inconvenient. For example, the Age of Frost increases the number of dangerous Frost Giants in the world, while the Age of Chaos causes enemy factions to fight against one another. Regardless, when an Age ends, you’re instantly thrown into a fight against Loki whether you’re ready or not.
There’s an inherent dynamism to Rune II’s world, story, and systems that makes it stand apart from the original and other survival games like it.
You do have support from the Norse Gods, such as Odin, Thor, or Hel. You’re lead down a path to aligning yourself with one, which grants you special powers. The choice you make ultimately affects the story’s outcome; however, the specifics towards how remains a mystery.
There’s an inherent dynamism to Rune II’s world, story, and systems that makes it stand apart from the original and other survival games like it. An overarching foe you’re continually building up your strength to defeat Loki only to fail repeatedly creates a loop that’s fascinating to see. The cyclical structure also seems fertile ground for personal anecdotes of difficulty and hardship to share with others. Fortunately, the game will include online cooperative play, so even if you do spend hours bashing your head against the wall trying to survive and defeat Loki, you’re welcome to with up to four friends.
Rune II is an intriguing albeit unexpected sequel to the original that offers a compelling twist to the action-RPG formula. Despite the new structure, the game’s fast-paced combat and wealth of Norse mythology seem likely to appease longtime fans. Make no mistake; this still feels like Rune. Though with nearly 20 years separating it from the first game, your recollection of that experience may be hazy. Still, Rune II seems enticing all the same and with a release set for sometime this Summer exclusively on the Epic Store, you won’t have to wait long.
From front to back, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is very much the same game on the Nintendo Switch as it is on other consoles and PC. You’ll get the bombastic combat scenarios where you’ll tear through Nazi trash as the charismatic, dynamic duo of Jess and Soph Blazkowicz, twin daughters of series hero BJ Blazkowicz. And you have the opportunity to play it all alongside a friend. The portable nature of the Nintendo Switch makes this an even more enticing prospect, but the platform’s limited hardware hurts the game’s best parts; low frame rates and muddy visuals make the action harder to enjoy. While these issues are not prohibitive, they do make the Switch version the weakest of the bunch.
Youngblood is a bite-sized spin-off that jumps ahead in Wolfenstein’s timeline by taking you to the 1980s, almost 20 years after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. You see an older Anya and BJ teaching their twin daughters Jess and Soph the means of survival, just before BJ goes missing. With the help of Abby, daughter of Grace Walker from The New Colossus, you’re able to track him down in Nazi-occupied France, particularly Neu-Paris.
Not long after the introductory mission do you see how Youngblood breaks off from the traditional Wolfenstein structure; Neu-Paris acts as a group of separate hub areas where most of the action takes place. Many of the side quests and random events in these areas feel more like filler and will eventually have you running through familiar areas frequently. If anything, it’s at least a means of familiarizing yourself with the intricacies of the Dishonored-influenced districts. Main missions branch off from the hub areas, and in these missions are where you’ll find the relentless, challenging firefights that keep up a satisfying momentum. This is where Youngblood truly shines on the PC version, however, due to the Switch’s technical limitations, it doesn’t quite hit the same highs. [Read our PC review for our full thoughts.]
Overall, technical performance hampers some of the great FPS action as it makes aiming, movement, and reacting a bit more difficult.
Light RPG elements are new to the Wolfenstein franchise, and they don’t shake up the formula too much, but make for some enjoyable twists. You’ll earn XP and level up to drop points into a skill tree that grants new abilities or buffs to make you more effective in combat. You can upgrade weapons to fire with even more impact or change the way they function altogether. There’s also an armor-type element to strong enemies that’ll have you juggling between certain weapons to lay down the most damage. All these small changes serve to bring a slightly more dynamic edge to a solid FPS foundation.
Youngblood is wrapped in the idea of cooperative play, which is a blast. Friends (or randoms) can jump into your session easily and the game-state will remain untouched–the AI simply gets taken over by the player, and vice-versa when they leave. Pep signals are core to the co-op experience; these are cooldowns that grant useful buffs or clutch armor/health recharges. The revive system is another key to teamwork that sort of comes in place of traditional checkpoints. Outside of pep signals though, there feels like a lack of synergetic co-op gameplay features, like tag-team attacks or teamwork-centric capabilities, and it feels like a missed opportunity. It’s worth noting that you will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online account to do any sort of co-op play, however.
When it comes to the Switch version specifically, the question on many minds is: how well does it run? To that, I would say: not great. The frame rate is the most noticeable shortcoming as the game generally runs at sub-30 FPS and chugs when the action gets intense in both docked and undocked modes. There’s also heavy use of motion blur to help smooth over the low frame rate. Overall, technical performance hampers some of the great FPS action as it makes aiming, movement, and reacting a bit more difficult.
While not as important, the downgrade in visual quality is readily apparent. The game runs at 540p handheld and 720p docked, but uses some sort of dynamic resolution for assets and character models to help keep the frame rate in check. This turns things into blocky messes in certain combat scenarios that take place in large environments. And the low resolution and a gray foggy haze slightly obscures objects and enemies in the distance, making them difficult to identify.
Youngblood suffers as a result of the Switch’s relatively underpowered hardware, but for all its technical shortcomings, the game still delivers intense, momentous, and challenging combat. Everything features-wise remains intact, and you’ll get to enjoy taking a shotgun (or fully charged laser beam) to the heads of Nazi scum. The Blazkowicz sisters, Jess and Soph, bring their own unique swagger to the Wolfenstein franchise, too. So if the Switch version is your only way of playing Youngblood, you can be confident it’s still one hell of a ride.
Sigma has been revealed as the 31st Hero in Overwatch, and the gravity-controlling mad scientist is currently playable in the game’s PC test server. With so many Heroes in Overwatch now, creating new ones has become a balancing act for Blizzard–one where brand-new mechanics must be weighed against the established lore of the game’s narrative. Sigma is no different, having started out as one character that had to be changed to fulfill specific criteria: someone who further fleshed out Talon and also acted as an anchor tank.
“[Sigma’s introduction] wasn’t really reactionary to the meta,” lead hero designer Geoff Goodman said in an interview with GameSpot. “We were looking to introduce a new barrier tank to the game, specifically an anchor tank that the team could rally around to push through chokes and take objectives. So a lot of the prototyping all began with him having a large barrier and being somewhat immobile, so he’s not running off on his own. The teammates had to gather around him and make a push.”
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Blizzard is always working on multiple Overwatch Heroes at once and adapting prototypes as the needs arise. So when it came time to introduce Hero 31, there already was an idea of what the team wanted to do next. “We knew, from a gameplay side, that we wanted this anchor tank, and even at an early point for him, we knew we wanted him to be part of Talon,” Goodman said. “So, he literally was just ‘Talon anchor tank’ on paper for a good amount of time as we were prototyping.”
Though Talon is partially made up of former Overwatch team members and is currently the main antagonist in Overwatch’s narrative, much of the organization still remains a mystery. It’s a trend Blizzard was looking to change, and Hero 30 and 31 allowed the developer to do it. “[Talon is] an extremely important group in the Overwatch universe and while there are already some really prominent and beloved characters in our line-up who are in Talon, I think when you look at it, they’re still a very small sub-section of the overall group,” Goodman said. “As we’re developing the universe, when we add new Heroes, we try and make sure that they call back to the core Overwatch story. So that’s why Baptiste and also Sigma are very related to Talon, because we were thinking, ‘Oh, this would be a good chance to be able to explore more of this world through them and see it through two new characters’ eyes.’ So with this two-pack of Heroes, you [learn] a little bit more about Talon and see Talon grow as a group as well.”
However, before Sigma was created, Blizzard looked to a previously established Overwatch character for Hero 31: Mauga, a Talon member introduced in the Overwatch comic that’s focused on Baptiste and who’s a former friend to Overwatch’s 30th Hero. His willingness to embrace the murderous side of the organization that caused Baptiste to quit made him seem like a good way to explore Talon from another point-of-view. Plus, the dude is built like a truck, making him a prime candidate for the tank role in a video game. “Originally, [Hero 31] started as a different character that we later called Mauga,” Goodman said. “[Baptiste and Mauga] were going to be together. However, we found it kind of difficult because, though we really liked Mauga, it was hard to imagine that guy as a slow-moving dude with a shield, marching with his team. That guy feels a little more like he’d be jumping in like Winston or Wrecking Ball and causing chaos. So somewhere sort of later in development, we decided to shift gears and go with a completely different character, and that’s how Sigma formed.”
Once Blizzard decided to focus on a brand-new character instead of a previously established one, it opened up the possibility of exploring previously established technology and powers in a brand-new way. Both Orisa and Zarya have gravity abilities, for example, but no Overwatch Hero had been completely built around gravity-focused powers. “It was clear that once we shifted courses on this character, that we were going to double down on the gravity abilities,” Goodman said. The idea of doing another scientist–we had some other ideas–came about pretty quickly too.”
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Goodman added that Overwatch’s story and gameplay are developed “hand-in-hand” so several of the add-on Heroes have had their design or backstory completely changed prior to their release, like Sigma, to better fit their abilities or vice versa. The prototype for Ana, for example, was an alchemist who operated as a close-range fighter with throwable potions that caused different splash effects. When it came time to implement the alchemist into the game, Blizzard chose to use the opportunity to add Ana as a playable Hero. As Ana had already been established as a sniper in Pharah, Soldier: 76, and Reaper’s backstories, however, most of the alchemist’s explosive concoctions became special bullets, with only one remaining potion-like: Ana’s Biotic Grenade.
Going forward, the creation of Heroes will be impacted by Overwatch’s new Role Queue feature, though perhaps not as substantially as you might think. Blizzard has had plans for Role Queue for a while and has thus already been working within the parameters of its eventual launch. “We have been talking about Role Queue for a long time,” Goodman said. “It took quite a while to implement it. I don’t even remember when we first started talking about it or really committing to it.” Sigma has always been designed with Role Queue in mind, for example, and changes to his character–like removing Accretion’s secondary ability to form a rock-like version of Mei’s Ice Wall–have been a result of balancing the character, not accounting for the new feature.
Goodman did add that Role Queue’s launch does currently eliminate the possibility of seeing a fourth class (beyond tank, damage, and support) in Overwatch, as introducing another class would mess with the balance Blizzard has been operating under with Role Queue in mind. However, there may be more hybrid Heroes–like Brigitte, who’s support class but can use Barrier Shield and Shield Bash to technically act as a tank for her team–in the future.
For now, the only way to play with Sigma is on Overwatch’s PC test servers, but the Hero will be officially launching on all platforms soon enough. Overwatch is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Avengers: Endgame is now officially the biggest movie of all time and now you can watch it at home, constantly reliving every gut-wrenching moment until you’re a puddle of tears and victory. With the film now available for digital release, with Blu-ray and 4K coming soon, it’s time to take an even closer look at the film.
That closer look includes a long list of featurettes on the home release, as well as a commentary from the writers and directors, in which we learned quite a bit about making the film. Another intriguing feature on the set, though, is the inclusion of deleted scenes. With such a massive undertaking and a cast of characters this big, it’s only natural that multiple scenes wound up on the cutting room floor. Now, you can actually see a handful of them.
In case you somehow haven’t seen the movie that finally dethroned Avatar yet, what are you doing? Go watch it instead of reading about deleted scenes. Warning: We’re talking all kinds of Endgame spoilers.
This is by no means a complete counting of every scene deleted from the movie, which we’ll get to below, but for now, these are the only bits of cut footage you’re going to see. You can purchase Avengers: Endgame digitally now or pick up a physical copy on August 13.
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15. Not Even The Writers And Directors Know What’s Up With Vormir
In one of the most confusing moments from the three-hour long commentary, all four of the men behind Endgame debate what exactly happens to Red Skull after the Soul Stone leaves Vormir and whether or not Steve Rogers ran into him.
Anthony Russo: “Speaking of Red Skull, have you guys thought about whether or not Cap runs into Red Skull when he’s returning the Soul Stone?”
Steve McFeely: “He would have to.”
Chris Markus: “Many times.”
McFeely: “Well I guess if Red Skull has been released from his bonds…”
The Sega Mega Drive Mini, expected to arrive worldwide on September 19, has been delayed in Europe and the Middle East. Sega Europe now says the mini redux will launch on October 4, two weeks later.
In a tweet posted on Monday, July 29, Sega Europe said “unavoidable logistical challenges” are what is causing the short delay. Whatever these challenges are only affect Europe and the Middle East, as the Sega America Twitter account has not responded to the news.
Unfortunately due to unavoidable logistical challenges, the European and Middle Eastern release of the Mega Drive Mini will be delayed by two weeks, to October 4th 2019. We appreciate your patience.
A Sega spokesperson told Eurogamer that “Customers in those regions are still able to pre-order from participating retailers and those who have already pre-ordered will only have to wait an extra two weeks for their little box full of retro magic.” The spokesperson further said that Sega is “committed to a successful launch for consumers in all territories, [while ensuring] we can meet demand and fulfill all the individual pre-orders and retail orders in Europe and the Middle East at the same time.”
Sony announced this week that PlayStation 4 shipments have climbed to a staggering 100 million units life-to-date, but it wasn’t all good news. The 3.2 million PS4 systems that Sony shipped in the April-June quarter was “slightly below” the company’s internal expectations. The reason for the downturn?
Sony said it was “primarily” due to the company’s announcement of its next-generation console, the PlayStation 5.
It’s a historical trend in the games business that console sales of an older system drop off to a degree when a new console is revealed. The thinking is that people hold off on buying a console when they know a newer one is coming. That seems to be what’s happening with here with PS4 sales.
As a result of the lower-than-expected PS4 sales, Sony said it has “revised downward” its forecast of PS4 sales during the current fiscal year ending March 2020. The company is cutting its projections by 1 million units, from 16 million to 15 million.
15 million is still a massive shipment number for a console so late into its lifecycle. Sony said this ongoing success “demonstrates that the PS4 platform is still garnering support from many users.”
Sony is also projecting a downturn for game sales during the current fiscal year. The company is lowering its expectations to be flat year-over-year instead of increasing due to lower third-party game sales. Lower-than-expected revenue from free-to-play games was also called out. This may be in reference to Fortnite and other battle royale games that are slowing down when it comes to revenue.
On the plus side, Sony said it expects its “network services” to generate more revenue in the current fiscal year. Overall, Sony said one of its major areas of focus during the fiscal year is on “preparing for the launch of the next-generation platform,” in addition to growing the userbase the company already has.
The PlayStation 5 is rumored to launch in holiday 2020, which is also when Microsoft’s Project Scarlett next-generation system is confirmed to release.
