TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 Review

The Isle of Man TT is perhaps the most outrageously dangerous motorsport event in the world. Held on nearly 38 miles of perilously-skinny public road draped over the Isle of Man, this enduring motorcycle time-trial barely goes a year without killing a competitor – claiming over 150 souls since its inception in 1907. Not to be flippant about the loss of life but, above anything else, KT Racing’s TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 aptly illustrates why this event is just so potentially deadly.

Diabolically tricky and boasting a wicked sense of speed, this impressive albeit slightly uneven sequel feels fast and dangerous in a way racing games rarely muster.

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The star of the show remains the complete 37.73 mile Snaefell Mountain Course itself, with its tree-lined corridors, ancient city streets, and beachside blasts. Navigating the narrow roads of the course at truly sphincter-shrivelling speeds is an immense and unforgiving challenge, and the amount of crashes I’ve had while on maximum attack has made it abundantly clear why the real TT is infamous for its sadly-extensive list of casualties. In fact, there are times when Ride on the Edge 2 seems to share more in common with something like WipeOut than a contemporary motorsports sim, such is the startling velocity, amplified by the cramped roads. The top-notch sound is an integral part of the sensation of speed, particularly the way wind noise thuds through the speakers as your bike whips past trackside objects.

I’ve never been to the Isle of Man but, based on footage, KT Racing’s version of the course is an admirably authentic facsimile of the real thing. I haven’t spotted any especially major visual differences between the version of the course here and the version that debuted in the original 2018 game but, even if there were any, they’d be fairly hard to absorb at speeds regularly tickling 200 miles per hour. There’s some pop-in now and then, but not enough of it to really detract from the experience.

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Like the first game there’s a smattering of other, fictional tracks available too – scattered across the UK and Ireland. They’re adequate but a bit plain compared to the far more densely-detailed Snaefell course. A modest free roam mode is also included, though it’s basically the fictional courses stitched together. The open roads are peppered with typical open-world racing challenges and are adequate for a quick blat, but Ride on the Edge 2’s handling model is much better suited to full throttle racing as opposed to general exploration.

The handling is definitely an improvement over the original, which felt a little more slippery overall. The heavier bikes in particular now cling to the road far more realistically and, while still quite nimble, their bulk is communicated well via their far longer braking distances. Smaller bikes have obviously benefited from the handling tweaks too but I don’t find them as fun to ride as they’re considerably twitchier. There are several layers of assists to lean on should the punishing pro handling prove an insurmountable challenge but know that, even on the simplest settings, Ride on the Edge 2 requires rapid reflexes and an extremely deft touch. A dose of gravel rash is the only reward for cack-handed cornering, and a lapse in concentration at 200 miles per hour will send you spearing into a stone wall like a sidewinder missile.

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The chase view leaves something to be desired, unfortunately, sometimes making it appear like the bike is swinging beneath the rider’s head like a pendulum. The bigger problem is that the low-speed handling is still a bit shonky, making acute hairpins and extremely narrow low-speed sections of track unnecessarily troublesome (Snaefell’s Governor’s Bridge hairpin and the subsequent skinny section, right at the end of a lap, is a particularly notorious offender). Tiny bumps also have a regular tendency to high side riders in the blink of an eye. Such accidents are probably partly realistic at these immense speeds, but the kind of track knowledge required to remember all the individual pieces of otherwise undetectable tarmac that will probably buck riders from their bikes in this game is out of my reach. As you’d expect, Ride on the Edge 2 features a dynamic racing line – which does place braking warnings on some dangerous jumps – but it’s a bit frustrating to be thrown off when the racing line is otherwise giving you the all-clear.

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Career mode has been fleshed out since the original but it’s mostly vanilla. There does seem to be a bit more structure to the path to the TT, which has several ways in which you can earn a place. The learning curve is steep, however, and conquering the AI can be a real arm wrestle – particularly when there are commonly one or two frontrunners seemingly capable of supernatural speed at times.

Upgrades need to be applied to your bikes, and you’ll definitely need to secure them to be competitive. There’s also a perk system that can give you a slight edge, which functions like the mod cards in Forza Motorsport 7. These perks feel a bit weird in Ride on the Edge 2, however, as arbitrary buffs to your ballast or brakes and such seem pretty at odds with the game’s pursuit of realism elsewhere. On the one hand it’s kind of handy being able to play a perk that slows the AI down a fraction for an event but, on the other, it also feels a bit like cheating.

Fortnite Has Made $1 Billion From Microtransactions On Mobile Alone

Fortnite continues to be a huge success for Epic Games, and new figures show that it has done extraordinarily well on mobile. According to Sensor Tower, two years after launch, Fortnite on mobile has now made a total of $1 billion in revenue.

This figure does not take into account how well the game has done on PC or consoles, so the game’s total revenue would be much higher.

The game’s fast success has likely been exacerbated by the current global COVID-19 pandemic, as there was a huge spike in sales and installments in April 2020. The month saw the game bring in $44.3 million and 6 million new installs, both records for the past year (the second-best month for installs in the 12-month period is December 2019, when it was installed 3 million times).

According to Sensor Tower, the Google Play version of the game–which only launched in April of this year–has so far brought in $937,000. The game’s total downloads across mobile amount to 129 million installs. In total, the game has 350 million registered players, and recently hit a concurrent player peak of 12.3 million.

Fortnite was recently confirmed as a PS5 and Xbox Series X launch title, where it will likely continue to rake in cash. As with every version of the game, this one will have crossplay.

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Final Fantasy 9 Is Out Now On Xbox Game Pass

While we are halfway into May, Microsoft is still unveiling games coming to Xbox Game Pass for both PC and Xbox One this month. The latest game to be added is Final Fantasy IX, which is live now for Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox One and PC.

Final Fantasy IX originally released on the PlayStation in 2000 and has sold over five million copies since release. In 2018 many Final Fantasy titles were added to the Nintendo Switch Eshop, including Final Fantasy IX which was delayed until the start of 2019. Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, and Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age were also delayed on the Switch.

The next game to be released on the Xbox Game Pass is Fractured Minds on May 19. Fracture Minds is a first person adventure game which explores the issues of anxiety and mental health. For a full look at what’s coming to Xbox Game Pass this month, check out our article here.

Xbox Game Pass gives subscribers access to a huge library of games on Xbox One or PC for $10 a month. A Game Pass Ultimate Subscription allows access to both the PC and Xbox One game libraries, along with an Xbox Live Gold subscription for online play, for $15 a month.

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Ubisoft Has 11 Games That Have Sold Over 10 Million Copies This Gen, And Some Are Surprising

Ubisoft’s latest earnings report contains some information about their sales across this console generation, including the franchises and games that have done particularly well. Ubisoft has announced that 11 games across 6 franchises have sold over 10 million units after releasing on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad posted a graphic to Twitter highlighting the company’s biggest sellers, and some of them might come as a surprise. The games that have sold 10 million units or more are:

  • Assassin’s Creed Unity
  • Assassin’s Creed Origins
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
  • The Division
  • The Division 2
  • Far Cry 4
  • Far Cry 5
  • Ghost Recon Wildlands
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • Watch Dogs
  • Watch Dogs 2

The Assassin’s Creed series has evidently done well, although it’s worth sparing a thought for the excellent Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, which did not hit the same sales milestone. Curiously, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag had shipped 10 million units back in 2014, yet does not appear. This could be because it was a cross-generational title, although by that logic Far Cry 4 and Watch Dogs should be disqualified, too. It’s possible that those games specifically sold 10 million only on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, though, and that a higher percentage of Black Flag’s sales were for other consoles.

It also seems that Far Cry Primal and Far Cry New Dawn have not reached the heights of the numbered entries in the series, while Ghost Recon Breakpoint had a disappointing launch and hasn’t hit this sales milestone.

A few of these games have perhaps done better than expected. Watch Dogs 2 struggled at launch, with some reports putting physical sales in its first week at 80 percent below those of its predecessor. Evidently, the game bounced back. The Division 2 has also sold better than its frequent enormous price cuts might lead you to believe–but then, it’s also likely that a lot of people have taken the plunge on it when it’s heavily discounted.

In any case, it’s fair to say that Ubisoft sold a lot of games this generation. The publisher has several games announced already for next-generation consoles, including Watch Dogs: Legion, Gods and Monsters, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Rainbow Six: Quarantine.

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Nintendo Switch Online Adds New SNES And NES Games This Month, Including Wild Guns And Panel De Pon

Nintendo has announced a new offering of NES and SNES titles for Nintendo Switch Online members, and they’ll be released on May 20. There are three SNES games and one NES game arriving in this update, including one game previously available only in Japan.

The new titles coming to the service are:

  • Panel de Pon (SNES, Japanese)
  • Wild Guns (SNES)
  • Operation Logic Bomb (SNES)
  • Rygar (NES)

Panel de Pon was localized as the Nintendo-themed Tetris Attack in the US, and later the same gameplay style was used in Pokemon Puzzle League for the Nintendo 64. Wild Guns is a shooter, which has made its way to Switch previously in remastered form as Wild Guns Reloaded. Operation Logic Bomb is an action shooter, while Rygar, the one NES title, is a challenging action-adventure.

This brings the total number of classic games available to subscribers over 80.

If you’ve jumped into the Japanese Eshop and also downloaded the Famicom and Super Famicom collections, it’s worth noting that the unique games in this month’s release–Super Punch Out!! and Journey to Silius–are already available in the US/EU/AU compilations.

If you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber, you should also make sure to play the next upcoming Tetris 99 Maximus Cup and score yourself an Animal Crossing New Horizons theme.

Halo Infinite Officially Confirmed For July’s Xbox Series X Reveal Event

Halo Infinite will be an Xbox Series X launch game, but we haven’t seen any gameplay footage from it yet. When we learned that Xbox would showcase first-party titles for the system in an upcoming Xbox 20/20 presentation in July, we assumed that Halo Infinite would be one of them–and now we have official confirmation.

In the latest post on Halo Waypoint, developer 343 Industries states that we’ll see more of the game during the upcoming stream. “You may have seen people talking about this lightly before, but we’re extremely excited to confirm that Halo Infinite will be one of many first-party titles included in the Xbox 20/20 event in July,” the post reads.

There’s no actual confirmation in thesse words that we’ll definitely see gameplay footage here, of course, but it seems inevitable, even if the first Xbox 20/20 showcase did not deliver as promised on that front.

There’s no specific date for this July presentation, but the first one took place on May 7, and included a mix of new game reveals and port announcements.

Halo Infinite will also come to Xbox One and PC before the end of 2020. Hopefully Aaron Greenberg’s recent claim that 343 Industries is “cooking up some fire” proves accurate.

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Scarlet Nexus Pre-Orders Live For PS5, Xbox Series X, And More

As 2020 continues, we’re bound to learn more information about next-generation games coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and a recent Inside Xbox stream revealed another game coming to both next-gen consoles. Bandai Namco’s upcoming action-RPG Scarlet Nexus will release on both PS5 and Xbox Series X as well as PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and while no release date has been announced, pre-orders are live now, adding Scarlet Nexus to the small but growing number of next-gen game listings we’ve seen on Amazon and other retailers.

Scarlet Nexus takes place in a distant future where a psionic hormone was discovered in the human brain, granting some people extra-sensory powers. However, deranged mutants known as Others have appeared from the sky, thirsting for human brains. Those with powers are recruited to the Other Suppression Force (OSF) and tasked with fighting the Others using their abilities, or “psionics.” You’ll take on the role of Yuito Sumeragi, a new recruit to the OSF who aims to become a powerful psionic like the one who saved him as a child. In Scarlet Nexus, you’ll explore the futuristic city of New Himuka, battle against the Others, and uncover the mysteries of this “Brain Punk” world.

As of right now, no pre-order bonuses or special editions have been announced for Scarlet Nexus, but it’s possible that will change once we have a set release date for the game. For now, check out everywhere you can already pre-order Scarlet Nexus below.

Pre-order Scarlet Nexus | $60

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The physical standard edition of Scarlet Nexus is available to pre-order for $60. Notably, retailers are offering separate listings for both PS5 and PS4 versions as well as Xbox Series X and Xbox One. Scarlet Nexus supports Xbox Smart Delivery, so you only have to buy the game once to own it for both Xbox One and Series X. However, PlayStation hasn’t announced an equivalent service for PS4 and PS5, so if you want to own this next-gen game on PS5, we suggest picking that version for now. You can check out everywhere Scarlet Nexus is available to pre-order below. Be sure to use each retailer’s dropdown menu to select your appropriate version.

Keep in mind that Amazon and GameStop don’t charge you for the game until it ships, while Best Buy charges for pre-orders right away (you can always cancel for a refund). Amazon is offering its pre-order price guarantee on Scarlet Nexus, so if the price of the game drops at any point after you pre-order but before the item ships, you’ll only be charged the cheapest amount.

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Ghost Of Tsushima Has A Beloved One Piece Actor In Its Japanese Voice Cast

Sucker Punch Productions showed off Ghost of Tsushima in the latest State of Play. The showcase provided an in-depth look at the game and many of its features, one of which is a Japanese voice track that will be available from the very outset of the game. Since the game is set in Japan and the main character, Jin Sakai, is Japanese, this is good news for those that want to immerse themselves deeper into the setting and characters.

Jin didn’t speak much during the State of Play demonstration, but fans of One Piece may have had their ears perk up when he did. That’s because the Japanese voice actor for Jin is Kazuya Nakai, who plays the Straw Hat crew’s very own swordsman, Roronoa Zorro. As fans of One Piece will be able to attest to, Nakai’s voice is iconic, and, across the series, he has delivered some stunning performances as Zorro, which certainly bodes well for Jin and Ghost of Tsushima. The Japanese voice track for the game also includes the option to turn on subtitles.

The English voice actor for Jin, meanwhile, is Daisuke Tsuji, who has previously appeared in Death Stranding, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Prey, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

The State of Play provided lots of other details about Ghost of Tsushima, including how its combat works, the breadth of customization options that will be available to players, and cool visual options that can enhance the cinematic experience, such as an Akira Kurosawa-esque black and white film grain filter. You can rewatch the entire Ghost of Tsushima State of Play to see it all.

Ghost of Tsushima was originally set to release in June, but its new release date is July 17. The Last of Us Part II, the other major remaining PS4 exclusive, will now launch on June 19, while Iron Man VR is coming on July 3. You can read more about the game’s pre-order bonuses and special editions in our Ghost of Tsushima pre-order guide.

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Mario Kart Tour Update Adds New Multiplayer Modes

Nintendo has rolled out a new update for Mario Kart Tour. The version 2.1.0 update is available to download on both iOS and Android, and it introduces a couple of new multiplayer options to the mobile racing game.

First is Team Race. As in the mainline Mario Kart games, this mode divides racers into up to four teams. The points your teammates earn based on how well they place will be pooled, so you’ll need to work together to win. You’ll also be immune to friendly fire from your teammates.

The second new multiplayer option is Room Code. This allows you to create your own room and invite other players via a specific code. Up to eight players can join a custom room.

The new update arrives shortly after the start of part two of the Flower Tour, which introduces another first-time racer to the roster: Monty Mole. The ranked cup this time around is the Baby Daisy Cup and takes players through 3DS Toad Circuit R, RMX Choco Island 1T, and 3DS Mario Circuit R, among other courses.

Mario Kart Tour launched in September 2019 and has become one of Nintendo’s most successful mobile games so far, although the title initially lacked a multiplayer mode. That was added as part of a free update back in March. A variant called Gold Races, however, is exclusive to the Gold Pass, which costs $5 USD a month.

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