No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle will officially be released on PC via Steam on June 9, 2021.
Revealed on XSEED Games’ Twitter, these two games arrive on Steam with a 10% launch discount and mark the first time No More Heroes 1 & 2 will be available on a platform besides the Wii, Switch, and Amazon Luna.
In our review of No More Heroes, we said, “In the end, No More Heroes is a grab bag of highs and lows, and the end result is going to be different based on your expectations. No More Heroes has one of the most unique, stylistic designs we’ve seen in years (maybe since Killer 7, in fact), as the presentation is made up of pixel art, a retro-themed audio production, and some of the best characters out there.”
In our review of No More Heroes 2, we said that “Desperate Struggle blows [the original] out of the water with a more streamlined experience, far more charm and style throughout, and some downright amazing boss battles. You still run across the occasional weak boss fight, horrible camera situation or framerate crawl, but with as much pure fun as there is packed into the game, you forgive the downsides almost instantly.”
The Addams Family and Cinema Toast’s Christina Ricci has quietly joined the cast of The Matrix 4.
As reported by Collider, this casting news was discovered in an updated The Matrix 4 press kit released by Warner Bros. Unfortunately, no further details were given regarding her character.
Ricci joins returning The Matrix cast members Keanu Reeves, Carrier Ann-Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Daniel Bernhardt, and Lambert Wilson. Newcomers to the franchise include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, and Jonathan Groff.
The Matrix 4 will also be the second time Ricci and director Lana Wachowski have worked together following their time on Speed Racer.
It’s the beginning of a new week, one full of gaming news, releases and of course, deals. Are you part of the Playstation ecosystem? Then you’d better check out this great deal on a year of PS Plus, which will save you $15. Shop at Amazon and use Prime? You can earn yourself free credit right now. We’ve also got several great Dell products on offer and some pre-orders lined up for you to check out before they launch this week.
Late last year, an ESRB rating was the first hint that Wii cult hit No More Heroes and its sequel would be coming to the PC–now, the two ports have been confirmed. The two Suda51 games will be coming to the PC via Steam on June 9th.
The original No More Heroes was released for the Wii in 2007, with the sequel No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle following in 2010. The two games were later ported for the Nintendo Switch in 2020, but the PC port marks their first time being playable on a non-Nintendo platform.
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Now Playing: No More Heroes III – Official Release Date Reveal Trailer | Nintendo Direct
The games follow protagonist Travis Touchdown’s journey as an assassin in the United Assassins Association, after he acquired a beam katana in an online auction. The stylised beat-em-ups gained a cult following thanks to Suda51’s signature offbeat sense of humor, which doesn’t shy away from violence, sex, and plenty of swearing.
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is shaping up to be the Lombax’s pajamas, and we can hook you up for cheap. Don’t have a PS5? Not a worry! You can score discounts on Dying Light 2, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 and Far Cry 6 instead. Something for everybody today, and it’s all waiting below…
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It secured victory in the domestic weekend box office over A Quiet Place Part II.
As detailed by Box Office Mojo, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’s $24 million weekend box office prevented A Quiet Place Part II from earning a second week at the number one spot.
A Quiet Place Part II earned $19.5 million and was followed by Cruella’s $11.2 million, Spirit Untamed’s $6.2 million, and Raya and the Last Dragon’s $1.3 million.
The latest Conjuring film was shown in 3,102 theaters across the US and earned a $7,740 per-screen average, which is an even more impressive feat considering it is also available to all HBO Max subscribers at no extra cost.
While WB hasn’t shared how many people watched the film on HBO Max, it did share that it earned another $33.1 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $57.1 million.
This only adds to the total earnings of The Conjuring films and its spinoffs, which is currently the top-grossing horror franchise of all time with $1.9 billion at the global box office.
A Quiet Place Part 2 saw a drop of 59% from last weekend, but it still managed to earn an additional $50 million overseas, putting its worldwide total at $138.6 million.
All of these movies should enjoy their time in the spotlight while they can, as F9 is fast approaching and has already made over $250 million in its first three weeks playing overseas.
Update (6/6/21) – Yuji Naka has confirmed his departure from Square Enix on Twitter, saying that he is considering retirement and that, while he can’t talk about the reason for leaving the company now, he hopes he can one day.
I retired from SQUARE ENIX at the end of April 2021 because I would like to contact the media and users,” Naka wrote, as translated by Google Translate. “I can’t talk about the reason now, but I hope I can talk about it when the time comes. As for future activities, I’m 55 years old, so I may retire. The photo is taken by Sega Hard Historia. Balan Wonderworld director and Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has unexpectedly left Square Enix, following a poor reception to his latest game.:
Original story follows.
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IGN has independently verified that Naka left the company at the end of April, after Nintendeal pointed out that the developer’s Facebook page had been updated to list an end point to his employment at Square Enix. It remains unclear if Naka’s departure was his decision or Square Enix’s.
Upon joining Square Enix, Naka had opened his own internal studio, Balan Company, to make Balan Wonderworld. Naka had previously told IGN that the game was his “one chance” to make a platformer for the publisher. When the game arrived, it was critically panned, and has seemingly struggled commercially.
IGN awarded the game a 4/10 review, saying that it “isn’t always an awful platformer, but it is a consistently boring one.” After arriving in March, the game never cracked the top 20 best-selling games in the US, according to NPD reports, and SteamDB reports that the game reached a peak number of concurrent players the day after launch, with just 124.
Much remains unclear after Naka’s departure, including what his next move will be, or what the fate of Balan Company and its other employees has been. IGN has contacted Naka and Square Enix for comment.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most iconic gaming heroes of our time. But – how much about Sonic and his creation throughout the decades do you know? Here are 12 Things about Sonic the Hedgehog you Might Not Know.
While the original Sonic the Hedgehog game had plenty of interesting zones that would become series staples – such as Green Hill Zone, or even the look and feel of Spring Yard Zone… which would basically evolve into Casino Night Zone – there were a couple of super interesting ones that never made the final cut.
It was also long rumored that Michael Jackson was involved in making the music for Sonic 3. He was reportedly a huge fan of Sega, and there was, of course, a Michael Jackson video game, Moonwalker.
While Switch’s 2022 lineup is still largely a mystery, we know of one marquee game coming to the system next year: Splatoon 3. The next entry in Nintendo’s colorful online shooter series is slated to hit the Switch sometime in 2022, and it looks like it’ll shake up the familiar Splatoon gameplay in some notable ways. Although Nintendo’s E3 Direct will focus largely on games coming this year, there’s a chance the company will show off more of Splatoon 3 during the presentation, and here’s what we hope we’ll see.
What We Know So Far
Nintendo officially announced Splatoon 3 at the end of its February Nintendo Direct, and the game’s reveal trailer gave us a look at some major changes for the series. The most obvious is the setting. Splatoon 3 takes place in an arid desert wasteland known as the Splatlands. At the heart of the desert is a new hub city called Splatsville, where players will gather between matches.
We also know the series’ signature 4v4 Turf Wars will return in Splatoon 3, but this time, there will be new stages set in the wilds around Splatsville. Nintendo teases there will be new moves and weapons, as well; we got a glimpse at a new bow and a crab-shaped autobomb during the reveal trailer. It also appears that players will now launch themselves onto the map from the air rather than spawning in at designated locations.
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Splatoon 3 Reveal Trailer | Nintendo Direct
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Beyond that, however, Nintendo hasn’t confirmed much about Splatoon 3, but there are indications there will be some sort of story mode, as in past games. The reveal trailer showed off a customizable Small Fry Salmonid buddy that will accompany the player, so there will presumably be some explanation of how that relationship came to be. We also know that Splatoon 3 isn’t slated to launch until sometime in 2022, so it’s still a way off from release.
What’s Confirmed For E3 2021
All Nintendo has confirmed thus far is that it’s airing a 40-minute Nintendo Direct on June 15, which is technically the final day of E3 2021. The company says the presentation will focus on Switch games “mostly releasing in 2021,” but that wording leaves enough wiggle room to suggest we’ll see some 2022 titles as well. Considering that Splatoon is now one of Nintendo’s best-selling franchises, it seems like there’s a good chance we’ll get another look at Splatoon 3 during the Direct–but that’s purely speculative at this point.
What We Hope To See At E3 2021
If Nintendo showcases Splatoon 3 during its E3 2021 Direct, we really hope the company will show off more of the game’s new weapons and other changes. It’s been very rare to see Nintendo release a sequel to one of its multiplayer-centric games during the same console generation, so we’re eager to learn more about how the game will set itself apart from Splatoon 2. A closer look at the new maps and any new special abilities being introduced would generate a lot of excitement.
The bow, a new weapon being introduced in Splatoon 3
We also hope to learn more about the game’s story and how it ties back to Splatoon 2’s Splatocalypse. Nintendo had said that event would determine the future of the series, and Team Chaos was ultimately victorious, which seems to have influenced the new, almost Mad Max-style setting. We hope Nintendo will give us more insight into what happened between Splatoon 2 and 3, and whether or not any familiar characters like Pearl and Marina will return in the new game.
Finally, we’re hoping Splatoon 3 gets a firm release date. Considering that the game’s not coming out until 2022, that admittedly doesn’t seem very likely, but even a release window would be nice, and it would give Switch owners a better idea of what they have to look forward to next year.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC exclusive Oddworld: Soulstorm has been rated by the ESRB for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.
As reported by Gematsu, Oddworld: Soulstorm features an ESRB rating of Teen for Blood and Gore, Language, Use of Tobacco, and Violence, and the platforms listed on this particular rating are Xbox One and Xbox Series.
This is a relatively good indication that an official announcement of Oddworld: Soulstorm arriving on Xbox platforms should be on its way, and it very well may happen during the week of E3 2021.
In our review of Oddworld: Soulstorm, we said that it “is an excellent remake of a delightfully weird ’90s platformer with tons of charm, challenge… and annoying bugs.”
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
