Dr. Mario World is headed to mobile devices this summer in Japan and the United States.
Announced by Nintendo, Dr. Mario World is being co-developed by Nintendo, LINE Corporation and NHN Entertainment.
The doctor is in! Mario puts on the white coat once again in the mobile game Dr. Mario World, targeting an early summer 2019 global release. #DrMario https://t.co/DTRBympHj0 pic.twitter.com/RfMZbbs3Mp
The Fallout 76 community is once again upset with Bethesda, as previously patched bugs were discovered following the release of Patch 5 earlier this week.
Bethesda took Fallout 76 offline for over an hour today to roll out a “hot fix” aimed at addressing those bugs. While the quick action to correct course is commendable, the incident has once again soured a community already fatigued by controversy and perceived mistreatment.
Patch 5, which was released on January 29, brought with it a long list of gameplay tweaks, such as capping carrying weight and rebalancing certain weapons and perks. The patch notes also include an even longer list of bug fixes, targeting everything from graphics and performance to quests and PvP. However, in they eyes of some players — many of whom can be found posting on the Fallout 76 subreddit — the problems introduced by the patch outweigh those it solved.
The CW’s “Elseworlds” crossover was definitely an entertaining spectacle, but the most exciting aspect of this year’s annual Arrowverse mashup was what it revealed about where the CW’s superhero universe might be headed. Not only are we now officially slated to get the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” adaptation every DC fan has been praying for since The Flash pilot aired, it seems as though the network may be considering what to do with the series that started it all.
Arrow will wrap up its seventh season this year, and the dangling “Elseworlds” plot thread of a mysterious deal between Green Arrow Oliver Queen and multiverse guardian the Monitor leaves the CW with several options for how to continue it. The CW has just renewed Arrow (and the other DC TV shows) for another season, but at the moment there’s no guarantee that it will look anything like the show we’re watching now. Why? Well, for starters, it feels a lot like Arrow could be looking for a way to write out its lead. According to THR, CW boss Mark Pedowitz “said it’s highly likely that the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ crossover would feature a character death” when speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour this week.
Full spoilers follow for this episode.
And finally… the Klingons return! Not only are L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) and Tyler/Voq (Shazad Latif) back for the third episode of Disco Season 2, answering some long-lingering post-war questions while also teeing up a bunch of new ones, but there are also B and C storylines this week that keep “Point of Light” jam-packed and pumping speedily along… even while setting up that Section 31 spin-off series we’ve been hearing about lately.
The Chancellor and her torchbearer have been missed since last season’s finale, so catching up on all the intrigue going on in the Klingon High Council chambers — the Klingons are always good for palace intrigue — is long overdue. L’Rell, who ascended to the leadership of the Empire in that finale, is under siege from various political enemies, who are suspicious of not just a woman leader, but one who keeps the counsel of a human. Of course, Tyler/Voq isn’t really human — he’s some kind of human/Klingon hybrid. But still, try explaining that to your average angry, human-hating Klingon.
The iconic manga Battle Angel Alita tells a story about the distant future, when a teenaged cyborg is found on a giant scrap heap, and discovers who she is – and who she wants to be – through one amazing action sequence after another. It’s an astounding work of fiction, and it’s now an astounding-looking motion picture, which crams so much plot into one film that there’s practically no room for the actual point.
The film, renamed Alita: Battle Angel, stars Rosa Salazar (Bird Box) as Alita, the amnesiac cyborg who views this dystopian world with wide-eyed wonder. Christoph Waltz co-stars as Ido, the kindly cyborg repairman who repairs Alita and becomes her surrogate father. Ido wants Alita to find her own destiny, free of the baggage that comes with her high-tech body. Nobody seems to know where she came from, why she’s so advanced, and why she’s an expert in a long-lost cyborg martial art.
Zen Studios has announced its upcoming RPG, titled Operencia: The Stolen Sun, will release as an Xbox One console exclusive. The game will also be enhanced on One X and launch day one on Xbox Game Pass.
“Much of our development team grew up on classic RPG series like Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale, and Eye of the Beholder–and we’re just not seeing many games like those these days, especially on console. So not only would creating a CRPG for Xbox One be something we want to play–it would also fill a void,” Zen Studios creative director Chris Baker wrote in a blog post.
Operencia represents yet another title that the Epic Games Store has managed to nab away from Steam. The RPG was originally scheduled to launch on Valve’s store when it was first revealed during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase. However, in a blog post, Zen Studios announced that Operencia caught the eye of Epic after the showcase, and a deal was made. Epic has quickly become a competitor to Steam’s dominance of the PC gaming market by grabbing impressive exclusives, like Hades and Ashen, and securing triple-A games that were originally scheduled for Steam, such as The Division 2 and Metro Exodus. Valve described the loss of Exodus as “unfair” to customers.
Operencia takes place in the fantastical, titular place. The land of Operencia is referred to in several folktales told in Central Europe, and the game takes the concept of these fictional stories to deliver an expanded universe that incorporates both fantasy creatures and real historical figures. The game is played in first-person and has tile-focused, turn-based combat. For a more challenging experience, you can turn on permadeath mode and/or turn off automapping.
Operencia: The Stolen Sun is scheduled to launch on Xbox One and PC in Spring 2019.
The upcoming spin-off RPG starring an ensemble of Persona characters, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, was recently confirmed to come to North America and Europe later this year. It’s the Nintendo 3DS exclusive that gives the casts adorable chibi designs and brings them together in an alternate, sinister movie-themed dimension for a wild ride. But despite Persona 3, 4, 5, and all other spin-off games having an English voice cast, Persona Q2 will not.
Atlus USA confirmed to us and other outlets that the game will only feature the Japanese voice track with English subtitles. This may come as a disappointment to some fans, especially since the localized versions of Persona 3 and Persona 4 had English voice work exclusively and didn’t offer the opportunity to enjoy the Japanese voice overs. It’s not entirely surprising, however. Considering the deep cast of characters spanning three other games and the fact that the 3DS is at the end of its life cycle, bringing in the necessary number of voice actors may not have been cost-effective for Atlus, unfortunately.
Along with the announcement of the North American/European release date, Atlus also showed off the collector’s edition called the “Showtime” Premium Edition. It includes a plushy of good boy Koromaru, a deck of cards with character designs, an art book, a four-button set with each protagonist, and an exclusive box along with the game.
Persona Q2 launched in Japan on November 29, 2018 and will make its way to the West on June 4, 2019 for Nintendo 3DS. Prior to the announcement, I was confident enough in the game getting localized that I declared it my most anticipated game of 2019.
The CW has officially renewed 10 shows for the 2019-2020 television season, including all of the Arrowverse shows, Riverdale and more.
These early renewals were announced by CW president Mark Pedowitz during the network’s session at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California. Returning shows include Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Charmed, Dynasty, Legacies, Riverdale and Supernatural.
“The early renewal of these signature CW series gives us a head start on laying out the 2019-2020 season, and this is just the beginning,” said Pedowitz. “These shows provide a strong foundation for our multiplatform programming strategy, and we look forward to building on this with even more returning and new shows as we approach the May upfront.”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has proven to be a big critical and commercial success for Nintendo since it arrived on Switch last month. Despite launching toward the end of the year, the title was Amazon’s best-selling video game of 2018 as well as the fifth best-selling game in the US (not accounting for digital sales), and now it’s hit another huge sales milestone.
In its latest earnings report, Nintendo revealed that the mascot fighter has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it the company’s third best-selling Switch game to date. According to Nintendo’s updated list of best-selling Switch software, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate moved a combined 12.08 million physical and digital copies as of December 31, 2018–a figure that’s all the more impressive considering the game had only been available for roughly three weeks by that point.
Ultimate launched for Switch on December 7 and quickly set new sales records for the series. The title has already sold more than twice as many copies as its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. At this rate, it’s also on track to overtake the series’ best-selling entry, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii, which sits at 13.29 million units–assuming it hasn’t already done so, as Nintendo has yet to share Ultimate’s January sales figures.
Ultimate wasn’t Nintendo’s only big sales success in 2018. Switch’s first Pokemon RPGs, Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, have also sold a combined 10 million copies since their launch in November. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, meanwhile, remains the companies best-selling Switch game, surpassing 15 million units, with Super Mario Odyssey following at 13.76 million.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first DLC character, Piranha Plant, arrived earlier this week as part of the game’s big 2.0.0 update. Those who’ve registered their copy of the game via My Nintendo by January 31 are able to claim it for free; here’s how to do it. Everyone else will be able to purchase Piranha Plant at a later date.